Windfall
by Tonifranz
Summary: Giggles, Petunia, and Flaky discover Shifty and Lifty's secret horde in the woods. Their decision to take it would have the two raccoons come after them in order to retrieve their treasure. Starring Shifty, Lifty, Petunia, Giggles, Flaky, and Lumpy.
1. The Hideout

**Windfall**

**Starring**

Shifty, Lifty, Petunia, Giggles, Flaky, and Lumpy.

**Featuring**

Pop, Cuddles, Flippy, Splendid, Russell, Mime, Sniffles, Nutty, Toothy, Handy

**Appearing**

Cub, Disco Bear, The Mole

**Chapter I**

**The Hideout**

It was a nice summer day. Giggles, Petunia, and Flaky were out camping in the forest. Although there were many dangers that could (and did) kill them, they nevertheless looked forward to the fun that they are going to have—except for Flaky who was still scared of what might transpire. Petunia and Giggles planned this afternoon to be a girls' day out, and had to plead, cajole, and literally drag the porcupine out of her home. After all, it would not be much of an outing if there were only two girls involved.

"Are you sure you know where we are going?" asked Flaky. "I don't think I've been in this part of the forest before."

"Giggles has a secret spot that she discovered in one of her nature walks," Petunia answered.

"Yes," Giggles explained. "It is so deep that I don't think anyone had ever been there. All perfect for a view of nature undisturbed by man. It would be fun, wouldn't you think?"

After an exhaustive hike of an hour, they were no nearer towards their destination. "We're in the middle of nowhere," Petunia complained, "yet you say we've got a good hour to hike before we reach the place! My feet hurts! Can we rest? Even for a few minutes?"

Flaky agreed. She was tired, and full of sweat. "Yes. I'm tired," she said. "Please. I need to sit down and relax."

Giggles was tired too. She had underestimated the time that the hike would have to take. "Well, I guess we could rest here for a while," she agreed.

They rested on a rock besides a dirt path. The path was covered either with dust, or with grass, and it is located on the base of a tall hill. Shrubs and foliage covered the cliff, making it seem as if they were looking at a wall of plants.

Their rest was interrupted when they heard a noise.

"Giggles, Flaky, did you hear that?" Petunia remarked.

"Sounds like a van," Giggles replied.

Flaky quickly ducked behind some bushes beside the path. "I think we better hide. I know you think I'm paranoid, but it's better to be safe than sorry."

Giggles thought for a second before joining Flaky, followed quickly by Petunia.

They watched, hidden behind the bushes, as a van emerged from a curve in the road. They would wait until it passed by them before making any move.

* * *

Shifty and Lifty were grinning. The night before, they had successfully robbed a jewelry store and a bank. They stole millions of dollars in bills and in coins. But that was not the main reason why they were happy.

"Those rocks cost us a fortune!" Lifty grumbled. "Four million dollars for three glowing rocks? That's about nine bank robberies!"

"Yes, but now, Splendid won't bother us! Those three kryptonut gems that we bought would ensure us that!" Shifty, who was driving, remarked. "Imagine, no more theft in the dark! We could rob at will, in broad daylight, and there's nothing that flying squirrel could do about it!"

The van stopped besides the base of a hill covered with plants. Lifty would emerged on top of the vehicle after about a minute. Looking around him, the raccoon snickered, before reaching on a branch just above his head. He pulled it down once, and sideways to the right twice. Immediately, a section of the wall of rock and plants opened up to reveal an entrance the size of a door.

Shifty turned the engine of the vehicle off as soon as he saw the entrance open up. With his brother, he transferred the contents of their van to the cave.

The cave was about twelve feet tall from the floor to the roof. Its area is about as large as a dining room of an ordinary house. There is a fluorescent lamp on the ceiling, a large table in the center, two chairs on either side of the table and a two bunk bed in its edge. On its right side edge, there is a refrigerator, a kitchen sink, and a cooking stove. However, it was not primarily a place to live, but a storage area. In the center were piles of gold, silver, diamonds, cash, and other valuable items. There were other types of treasure scattered as well. It was essentially a miniaturized version of Aladdin's cave of wonders, minus the traps and genie lamp. You can open and close the cave from the inside using a lever protruding from the wall near the entrance.

Lifty and Shifty put their newly stolen loot on the edge of the pile, but placed a jewel encrusted chest on their table. Shifty opened it and the racoon brothers gazed upon its contents. There were three large nut shaped jewels that emitted a green glow.

"Kryptonut! Three large nut-shaped kryptonuts!" Lifty said in awe. "Splendid, here we come!"

"Yes, yes," Shifty agreed. "All the money in the world is worth these three glowing rocks. Even our lives are less valuable than these! With it, we can rob virtually anything! The town will be our playground!"

They closed the chest after gazing at the kryptonuts for a few minutes. They took a bag of cash, went out of the cave, closed the entrance, and left. This was a place to store their stolen items—a perfect location to hide it from the police, but it was not an ideal place to live. They have a house at the edge of town where they live, plus a dozen hideouts scattered throughout the town itself.

* * *

The entire operation took only about fifteen minutes. The three girls, from their hiding place, witnessed the entire thing. When they were sure that the racoons were truly gone, they conferred among themselves.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Petunia asked with curiosity in her eyes.

"Unfortunately, I am," Giggles replied. "I think we're crazy, but why not?"

"You're not going to break in, are you?" Flaky asked. "That's bad."

"They're thieves," Petunia justified. "I might want to see if some of my stuff that they've stolen is in that cave."

"Besides," Giggles added, "there's nothing wrong in trying to have a look."

Despite her hesitations, Flaky followed Petunia and Giggles. Giggles climbed the wall using the plants as ladders, and, by remembering how the racoons operated the hanging branch, opened the cave.

They were astounded by the treasure that they found inside the hideout. "I never knew they robbed so much that they'd have this much loot," Giggles remarked.

"Yes. Rubies, diamonds, sapphires, gold, silver, giant pearls, and more!" Petunia said in awe as she tried on some of the jewelry she found among the pile of treasure. "Think of how many soap, shampoos, and detergents we can buy with this!"

Flaky was nervous, thinking this was a bad idea. Nevertheless, she let her curiosity get the better of her. She went to the table on the edge of cave and saw a beautiful jewel encrusted chest. Opening it, she gazed at the beauty of the three green glowing nut shaped gems. "Wow! That's beautiful!"

"Yes," Giggles added. "Beautiful and dangerous. That's kryptonut."

"Krypto— what?" Flaky asked.

"Kryptonut," Petunia answered, joining them, with her fingers studded with diamond rings from the pile, her wrists with bracelets, and her ears with beautiful pearl earrings. "Splendid's only weakness."

"Splendid has a weakness?" Flaky asked.

"Yes. About a month ago, Shifty and Lifty took over our lemonade stand. They tied us up and took our money," Giggles explained. "Splendid tried to rescue us, but he was stopped by this stone."

"Later, Splendid killed Shifty and Lifty by long distance laser. He crushed the kryptonut into powder. Unfortunately, he accidentally inhaled the kryptonut dust and started vomiting uncontrollably. We were killed by his vomit. Later, when we were revived, we learned that he died," Petunia explained.

"Oh. I think we better take the kryptonut," Flaky said. "I don't want Splendid to get hurt."

"Yes, and let's take the rest of the treasure too!" Petunia added with glee.

"What? That's stealing!" Flaky protested.

"We shouldn't stoop to their level!" Giggles added. "We're not criminals!"

"But some of the things here are mine! There are jewelry in that pile that belongs to me! And I saw some of yours there too!" Petunia argued. "These things are not theirs. They stole it from others. And they're not giving it back! We can't let them enjoy the fruits of their crimes!"

"Then we should call the police!" Giggles insisted.

"You and I know that Lumpy is the police in this town!" Petunia answered. "Lumpy's a fine fellow, but do you really want him to get his hands on this treasure? We found it! It should be ours!"

"Petunia, we shouldn't—"

"Look. If we went treasure hunting, and found in an island, or under the sea, a chest full of gold, and we took it, is it stealing?" Petunia asked. "If it is, then Russell and Lumpy are thieves! And both of you, along with Sniffles, took the cursed idol from that ancient pyramid! Do you consider yourselves thieves because of that?"

"If you put it that way, then taking these would not be theft," Giggles replied.

"It's really the same thing," Petunia argued. "We found buried treasure hidden by pirates, or in this case, thieves, and it's ours! Finders keepers!"

That convinced Giggles. "Okay. You're right. We found it! We should take it. Flaky?"

"Are you sure it's not stealing? And nothing bad will happen?" asked the timid porcupine.

"No it's not," Petunia reassured. "Shifty and Lifty have no more right to it than we have."

"Well, okay, if you say so, then count me in," Flaky replied.

"But two things must be clear," Giggles said. "If we should take this treasure, then we must split it three ways—equally. More importantly, we must keep silent about it. We can't go around the town bragging about it. Shifty and Lifty will come after us if they found out it was us."

"Then we should promise each other not to tell anybody, and when I mean anybody, I mean everyone—not even Cuddles," Petunia said looking at Giggles, then she looked at Flaky, "or Flippy. I want us to promise that we will never reveal this, or what we did here today, to anyone without the expressed consent of the other two. In other words, we must all agree in order for us to tell others. Giggles, Flaky, I'm willing to make this promise. Are you?"

The three girls then made a solemn promise that they won't tell anybody about the treasure and kryptonut, not even their closest friends and relatives, unless the three unanimously agreed to.


	2. Discovery

**Windfall**

**Chapter II**

**Discovery**

"Our treasure! What happened to our treasure?" Shifty shouted as soon as he opened the lights of his cave.

The raccoons only returned to their cave about ten in the evening—about eight hours since they last left. They were carrying a bag full of stolen items and they were going to stash it in the cave before going to their house just at the edge of the forest. Never did they imagine that all their hard earned loot would just disappear.

"It's gone! We've been robbed! I tell you Shifty, we've been robbed!" Lifty cried, completely missing the irony of the situation. "Call the police! Call 911!"

"We're thieves, you idiot!" Shifty scolded. "All our hard earned loot. Gone! Just Gone! What is the world coming to when an honest thief couldn't protect his stolen goods from robbers?"

They sat on two of the chairs in the cave. They were dejected, angry, disappointed, fearful. After a few minutes of silence, Lifty spoke.

"So what do we do now?"

"We find out who the thief was. Then we take our treasure back," Shifty replied.

"How?"

"Wait here," Shifty said. He went out, and after a few minutes, came back holding a digital camera. "You forget. I've put a hidden camera that would snap a picture whenever someone would use the branch to open our cave. Come and look."

Lifty went to where Shifty was standing. They navigated the picture screen of the camera. Mostly it was Shifty and Lifty who was seen operating the branch many times to open the hidden entrance to the cave. Finally, on the second to the last picture, they found out who had opened their cave.

"Giggles," Lifty said as she saw the pink chipmunk with the red bow on the camera.

"So she was the thief who made off with our loot," Shifty concurred.

Two days later…

It was about six in the evening, and a van was parked about two blocks away from Giggles' hollowed out tree house. Shifty and Lifty were in a stakeout, eyeing the house using binoculars.

"Are you sure she's not at home?" asked Lifty.

"Yes. Giggles is working as a nurse today. Her shift begins at about five in the afternoon, and she won't be back until at least eleven tonight, which would give us about five hours to search."

The raccoons snickered, and parked their van at the back of the chipmunk's house. Although locked, they easily broke in, and began to search her house.

* * *

"Sniffles, you should rest and let that wound heal," the nurse, Giggles, advised as she read Sniffles' medical chart. "You should really be more careful in conducting your experiments."

Sniffles had a huge gash on his body as a result of a mishap regarding his new invention—an electronic knife. "But I'm so close to perfecting it!" he said.

"Well, you won't be doing any experiments until you're completely healed," she chided. "Or until you die and come back. You've lost so much blood it's a miracle you're still alive."

Sniffles groaned. Giggles sighed as he put the medical chart back at the foot of Sniffles' hospital bed and went to the main office of the hospital.

"So, how's Sniffles doing?" asked Dr. Lumpy, her boss, and one of the few doctors in town.

"He wants to go back and resume his experiments," Giggles said. "At that rate, well, I don't want to say anything bad, but he's liable to get himself killed because of his inventions—again."

"Just like when he shrunk himself to cure your cold," Lumpy concurred. "He ended up killing not only himself, but you and I too."

Giggles laughed at the memory. "Well, in this town, death cures all disease."

"How very true. If I were cold blooded, I would have deliberately killed all my patients, seeing as they're all suddenly cured when they return to life. Well, I think I better have a look on the other patients," Dr. Lumpy decided. He was wearing a white coat, a white shirt, a red tie, and a stethoscope wrapped around his neck. "Giggles, could you describe to me their condition?"

Giggles briefed Lumpy while they were walking past the patients.

"Nutty. Affliction—he nearly choked to death because of too much candy. He is a candidate for diabetes," Giggles began.

"Same ole' Nutty," the moose commented. Nutty was looking dejected and sick as he lay on the hospital bed. He was moaning pathetically as he saw Lumpy and Giggles. Lumpy moved besides the squirrel and put his stethoscope on his chest. "Heart beat a little quick but nothing too serious. May I see the blood test chart Giggles? Thanks. Hmm. Blood pressure higher than normal. Sugar content higher than normal. So how are you feeling?"

"Candy! Sugar! Give me sweets!" the green squirrel shouted. He then did his trademark laugh, then sighed.

"Oh no you don't. You won't eat sugar anytime soon!" Lumpy said as he strapped Nutty tightly to the bed.

"Doctor, why did you strap him like that? He can't get out on his own?" Giggles asked.

"He's a security risk if left alone. Remember when I put that eye on Toothy? He stole the hospital bed with Toothy on it! He caused Toothy's death just because of a jawbreaker!" Lumpy thundered. "Who's next?"

"Russell," Giggles said. "He was attacked by a jellyfish while oyster diving. I'm afraid he won't last the night."

"How are you, old friend," Lumpy greeted. Russell's body was bloated as he shivered uncontrollably from chills. "Looks like you'll die tonight."

"Avast ye matey! Yarr! Ye not worry. I be at Davy Jones' locker only for a few hours. I be back tomorrow," Russell said even as he shivered and his body bloated. "I shouldn't have chased that last oyster."

"I know. You looked terrible. Too bad you lost your eye and hand and legs before moving to Happy Tree Town," Lumpy commented. "How do you feel?"

"Yarr! I be feelin' terrible. I wish I be dead right now so I be livin' in full health again!"

"Well, good luck," Lumpy said as he gave back the medical chart to Giggles. "Who's next?"

Giggles and Lumpy then went and inspected the rest of the patients.

After about an hour…

"Well, that takes care of that. And look at the time! Only nine! And your work for the day is done," Dr. Lumpy informed Giggles. "Tell you what. Why don't you go home early? Don't worry! You'll still be paid for hours you didn't work."

"But doctor, there's still so much to do! I've got to—" Giggles protested.

"Say no more," the moose interrupted. "Most of those jobs are tomorrow's jobs, not today. No, I insist, in fact, as your boss, I'm saying that you go home now. You've already worked too hard! Now go!"

Giggles have no choice but to comply. "Okay. Thanks," she said before she left.

* * *

Shifty and Lifty were ransacking Giggles' house for over two hours, and they found nothing. Sure, they found small amounts of cash, a few pieces of jewelry, a valuable painting, and expensive appliances, but they found no trace of the treasure, and the kryptonut, that they were looking for.

"Where did she hide it?" Shifty groaned as he sifted through the piles of scattered clothes on Giggles closet.

"Yeah! You think you don't have that many places to hide that much gold," Lifty grumbled as opened every cabinet he could find.

"Shifty, I hear something. A car! Somebody's coming!" Lifty whispered to his brother as he heard a car.

"I know. I heard. Come. Let's see who it is," Shifty beckoned his brother through the window. He can see clearly, through the car window, who was arriving. "It's Giggles."

"I thought she won't be home for at least two hours?" Lifty questioned.

"I thought so too," Shifty replied.

"Should we go? I mean, we can't be caught," Lifty cautioned.

"If it was Splendid, Lumpy, or Flippy, or even Cuddles, I say run. But it's only Giggles. We can handle her."

Lifty nodded as the raccoons positioned themselves on either side of the door they expected Giggles to enter.

After a tense few minutes, the door opened, and Giggles entered the room. She switched on the light, but before she could do anything, she was grabbed.


	3. The Rescuer and the Confidante

**Windfall**

**Chapter III**

**The Rescuer and the Confidante**

Giggles could only glare at Shifty and Lifty as they continue to ransack her house. She might have done more, if she wasn't tied up. About an hour ago, she was surprised when she was jumped at by the two green raccoons. They quickly tied her up—hands behind her at the wrists, rope around her ankles, her knees, and around her upper body—then put her into a heavy chair, where they put more ropes around her to secure her. They stuffed three large handkerchiefs in her mouth, and sealed her lips with duct tape. Confident that she won't go anywhere and do anything, the raccoons resumed their search of the chipmunk's residence.

They had no more success than before Giggles arrived, as they cannot find what they were looking for—the treasure that was taken from them.

"Oh this sucks!" Shifty grumbled as he kicked some pans scattered on the floor. "We've been here trying to locate that stupid treasure for about four hours!"

"What if we just ask her where she hid it?" asked Lifty.

"You know, maybe that brain of yours can still work," Shifty replied. "Why didn't we think of that before? We're idiots!"

The two raccoons turned toward Giggles and snickered. Giggles became frightened as they slowly approached her with broad grins and chuckling sounds. She knows by now why they were here. It was about the treasure. Somehow, they have figured out that she was one of those who took it. It was not an ordinary robbery. If it was, all her possessions would have been in a neat pile ready for pickup. No—they were clearly looking for something, and that something, it was obvious to her, was the treasure. She sighed. She was thankful that they haven't found it yet. And if she could help it, they won't find it at all.

"Look, we don't want to hurt you," Shifty began. "We'll take off that gag if you promise us that you won't scream. Otherwise, you could chew on those handkerchiefs the rest of the night! Do you promise not to scream?"

Giggles nodded.

"Good," Lifty replied. He carefully removed the tape from her mouth, and extracted the three saliva sodden handkerchiefs from her mouth.

Giggles mouth was dry, so the first thing she uttered was, "Water!"

Lifty quickly gave her a drink, and as she swallowed the precious fluid, she said, "thank you."

"Now that you had your drink," Shifty began, "let's get on with business. Where's our treasure?"

"Treasure? What treasure?" Giggles replied. "I haven't seen any treasure lately."

"Look. We can do this the easy way, or the hard way. For your sake, I hope you choose the easy way," Lifty threatened. "If you tell us, we'll leave and take only the treasure. If not, we'll the take the rest of your stuff. Yes! We'll steal each and every one of your precious things, including the kitchen sink, whether or not we find the treasure. So I advise you to sing!"

"I don't have any treasure! I don't know what you're talking about!" she replied, her manner confident and convincing.

"Don't play games with us!" Shifty growled. "We know it was you! We had installed a hidden camera that snaps a picture every time someone operated that branch! We have your picture!"

So that was how the raccoons knew it was her, she thought. Still, she would deny everything. "You're making it up!" Giggles replied. "I suggest you untie me and leave if you know what's good for you!"

"Oh we're making it up, are we?" Lifty said, enraged. "Well, look at this picture!" Lifty took a picture from his pocket and showed it to Giggles. It was Giggles operating the branch.

"That's proof! You've been caught with your hand in the cookie jar!" Shifty replied.

"That picture was photoshopped!" Giggles accused. "Any idiot with a computer and a picture of me could easily manufacture that picture. Sorry, that picture does not prove anything!"

"I knew I should have installed CCTV cameras on that cave," Shifty grumbled. "Look, quit stalling and admit that you were the one who robbed us! Tell us where the treasure is and we'll be gone!"

"I don't know what you're talking about!" Giggles insisted. "I didn't do anything, and you can't prove anything! I didn't take your gold and silver or any of your treasures."

"This is going to be a long night," Lifty said. "Quit lying and tell us where you hid it!"

"I can't tell you what I don't know!"

* * *

Cuddles looked at his clock. Ten p.m. Giggles is still at work, he thought. With that in mind, he called the hospital where Giggles was working.

"Yes, Happy Tree Hospital! Dr. Lumpy speaking," Cuddles heard.

"Lumpy! It's Cuddles. Can I please speak with Giggles?"

"Oh I'm afraid she went home about an hour ago," Lumpy said.

"An hour ago? But I thought her shift wouldn't be over until at least eleven," Cuddles questioned.

"She finished her duties early," Lumpy replied. "She was overworked, so I insisted she go home early."

"Oh, what time did she leave?"

"About an hour ago," Lumpy replied.

"Thank you," Cuddles said before put the phone down.

"Well?" asked Toothy, his companion.

"She already went home," Cuddles said.

Toothy and Cuddles were at the latter's house, playing poker during the evening. Cuddles decided that he would fetch Giggles from the hospital, and escort her to her home. The only problem was that Cuddles intended it to be a surprise, and had not told Giggles of his plans.

"That's too bad," Toothy said. "So much for your surprise!"

"How about going over to Giggles?" asked the rabbit.

"Isn't it a bit late?" asked the purple beaver. "Wouldn't it be rude to call at this hour?"

"Nah! I do it all the time! Come on! We'll only keep her company for an hour or so!" Cuddles urged.

After a moment of hesitation, Toothy agreed. "Count me in. But wouldn't it be better if you go alone? I mean, wouldn't it be awkward if I tag alone with you and Giggles?"

"No. As you know, Giggles is a bit of a prude," Cuddles explained. "If you accompanied me, she would then know that I don't have any untoward motives in coming at her place at this hour."

Toothy was still unsure, but trusted that Cuddles knew what he was doing. Using Cuddles' car, they drove towards Giggles' house.

"See, she's still awake!" Cuddles said to Toothy as pointed to Giggles' house. "The lights are still on! "

Both Toothy and Cuddles could see in the dark night the lights of Giggles' house, indicating that she is still awake.

"Well, come on. Let's go," Cuddles said to Toothy. Both creatures came out of the car and walked to the door of Giggles' home.

* * *

"Look, if you want to be untied, and I know you want to, you'll cooperate," Shifty reasoned.

"I would if I know what it is I should cooperate about," Giggles replied.

"It's about the treasure! Don't play dumb!" Lifty, exasperated, shouted. He was holding a big kitchen knife to scare Giggles, but it didn't work, as Giggles knew that they wouldn't kill her.

"Giggles!" a bloodcurdling and high pitched voice screamed. Suddenly, the front door burst open revealing an angry Cuddles. "You fiends!" Toothy, with a concerned expression in his face, was with him.

Shifty and Lifty were surprised by the appearance of Cuddles and Toothy. "Brother, what should we do?" asked Lifty.

"What else? Run!" Shifty shouted before running towards the back door of the house.

"Wait for me!" Lifty shouted. He threw the knife he was holding towards Cuddles and Toothy before running after Shifty, not to kill either of their antagonists, but as a delaying and scaring tactic to cover their retreat.

The knife missed Cuddles, but hit Toothy, who was behind him. It pierced the beaver's eyes, brain, and skull. He gave a painful scream of agony, and slumped—dead—on the floor, spilling his blood on the floor.

"Toothy!" Cuddles shouted in horror. His shock became anger as he removed the knife from Toothy's now dead body, and chased after Shifty and Lifty.

Lifty, however, tripped on some of the pans he scattered earlier, and he fell towards scores of scattered forks, toothpicks, and knifes. The fall cut his face and stabbed him in numerous places in his body. Lifty tried to remove the forks and knives that pierced him, but when he pulled out one fork that stabbed his chest, he inadvertently pulled out his heart with it. He screamed before he died.

Cuddles saw Lifty writhe in the kitchen floor in his death throes, but ignored him as he chased after Shifty. Shifty, however, had already exited the house. Going outside, he can see the van of Shifty and Lifty speeding away. Shifty had escaped. For the first time ever, Shifty escaped unharmed while Lifty died.

Cuddles quickly went back to Giggles, and, using the bloodstained knife, cut the ropes binding Giggles. "Giggles, are you okay? Oh I'm so sorry I wasn't here for you," he said as he hugged Giggles.

"Oh it was terrible! Terrible!" Giggles said in a soft voice.

"It's over now," Cuddles comforted. He looked around and was aghast at the mess the raccoons made. "I better dispose of the bodies and clean this mess. You go on and rest. I'll take care of this."

Cuddles began to drag Toothy's body away when Giggles began to drag Lifty's. "You should rest," Cuddles cautioned. "I'll do the chores."

"I've been sitting in that chair for more than an hour. That's enough rest, don't you think?" Giggles replied. "And this is my house. And you're my guest. You shouldn't be doing any of this. I'm glad for the help, but don't tell me not to do my own chores!"

"Well, at least you got over it," Cuddles laughed.

"I've been killed lots of times! What is being robbed and tied compared to that?" Giggles replied.

Cuddles laughed. The two dragged the bodies and dumped them outside. They knew that the bodies would disappear once they were revived, and that it would be gone before it began to rot, so they just covered it with a piece of canvass. They wiped the blood from the floor, and returned to the house to return all the things that were scattered. Thankfully, none of the breakable things broke.

"So what happened?" Cuddles finally asked. "I called the hospital, and Lumpy told me you went home early."

"Yes. I've been working too hard, he said. Well, I arrived at the house and was grabbed and tied-up. Turns out that they were in the process of robbing the house and I had intruded."

"They probably didn't expect you to be home that early," Cuddles added.

"Yes. Well, they ransacked my house while I was bound," Giggles said. "They then asked me where I had hidden—" She stopped. She can't tell him about the treasure. She had promised Petunia and Flaky to keep it a secret.

"Well? What?"

"—some jewelry, and money, that I have in possession," Giggles explained. It was not the whole truth, but at least she technically was not lying.

"So that's why your necklaces and bracelets were scattered," Cuddles commented. "But why didn't they run off with it? I mean, looking at it, they didn't even steal anything, did they?"

"Because of you," Giggles said, giving a peck on his cheek. "They didn't have time to pack their loot."

"It's still dangerous," Cuddles concluded. "You want me to stay here with you? I'll sleep on the couch."

"Oh no. I can handle it all by myself. I'm a big girl," she replied.

"But Shifty is still alive. We both know that you alone stand no chance against him," Cuddles argued.

Giggles wanted to argue the point that she can't take on Shifty alone, but knew he was right. The experience of the lemonade stand and Splendid showed that Shifty could easily overpower her even without the assistance of his brother.

"Thanks. But I can't. We're not married, and it's not proper for us to sleep in the same house alone," she cautioned. "Tell you what. I'll ask Petunia to stay with me for the night."

Cuddles only laughed, but acquiesced. "Okay. Well, I'll stay here until she arrives, if that's all right with you."

"That would be wonderful," she replied as she dialled her phone. "Petunia? I hope it's not too late. Well, sorry for the call, but it's important. Cuddles is with me. Shifty and Lifty broke into my house. Lifty and Toothy is dead. Cuddles is worried and feels that I should sleep alone in this house tonight. Will you sleep over? Thanks. Thank you very much. Well, bye."

"She said yes?"

Giggles nodded. "And she'll be here in half an hour."

* * *

Half an hour later…

Petunia stood in the front door of Giggles' house and prepared to knock. She had a light suitcase besides her containing her nightgown and some toiletries. She had driven to Giggles' house as soon as she had packed, with a sense of urgency that Giggles' message brought.

Petunia knocked.

"Petunia!" Giggles greeted. "Thank you for coming over."

Petunia could see Cuddles standing behind the chipmunk, so she chose her words carefully. "It must be terrible going through that!!"

"Yes. Thank God Cuddles was there for me," Giggles said.

"Well, since you're here, Petunia," Cuddles interrupted, "I might as well take my leave. I'm sure both of you can take care of Shifty alone. Be careful! He might come back."

"We will. And don't worry! Petunia and I can handle him!" the chipmunk replied.

Cuddles gave Giggles a quick kiss on the lips before leaving. "Giggles, Petunia, bye! See you tomorrow!" he waved at the two girls before he entered his car and drove away. Giggles waved and shouted "goodbye" as Cuddles disappeared.

"So tell me what really happened," Petunia demanded as soon as Cuddles was out of sight.

Giggles sighed. "Shifty and Lifty knew. They have a photograph of me opening that branch. Don't worry. It was only a picture of me that they have. The camera was hidden in the branch that opened the cave so I was the only one they suspected. They came here to retrieve the treasure."

"Did they?" asked Petunia. "Did they find what they were looking for?"

"No. I had left the treasure in the car, where they didn't look," Giggles said.

"Did you tell them anything?"

"No. I denied everything. I even called that picture a photoshop fake!" Giggles said. "And I said nothing to Cuddles. Did I do the right thing? I don't want to keep secrets from him."

"You did the right thing. We'll tell everybody about the treasure when the time is right," Petunia advised. "But for now, it's wise to keep mum about it."

"Are you sure? If you say so, then sure. But shall we do?" asked the Chipmunk. "They'll come back. I know it. And they'll learn that Flaky and you are involved as well."

"What could they do? Kill us?" Petunia scoffed. "I've died many times before, some in the most gruesome and painful manner possible, and so did you. I wouldn't want that to happen to me or my friends, but it that doesn't scare me! And it shouldn't scare you either. Besides, they're not murderers."

"I suppose," Giggles concurred. Death had, by this time, occurred so frequently, and over such trivial things, that it had been reduced to a minor irritant. Seeing one's close friends die gruesomely, then see them return the next day, seeing it happen to oneself, and over and over again every week, has a way to make death lose its terrors.

"And what if they rob us of every possession we have? We have treasure that is worth a million times what he have now!" Petunia argued. "We must hide our treasure so if they come back, they won't find it!"

"But where do we hide it?" asked Giggles.

"I've been thinking. We ourselves shouldn't hide it. If we do, they might find it. I suggest we entrust it to one of our friends, someone who we can absolutely trust. And someone who isn't partial to any one of us."

That last statement was aimed at both Flippy, and Cuddles. Giggles knew that Petunia would not accept either one as custodian for their treasure.

"I suggest someone who for sure would not talk to anyone about our secret. In other words, Mime."

"Mime?" wondered Giggles. Yet it was an acceptable choice. Flaky and Giggles trusted Mime, and he is equally friendly to each of the three girls. And he won't talk to anyone, for obvious reasons. "Well, I suppose we could trust him."

"Good. Tonight, we'll bring our treasure to him. He'll keep it safe for us until this blows over," Petunia proposed.

"It's okay to me. But do you think Flaky and Mime will agree?"

"I'm sure they'll do. I'll call Flaky and ask her if she's okay with it. May I use your phone?"

"Go ahead," Giggles replied. Giggles watched as Petunia picked up the phone and talked to Flaky. Pretty soon, it was obvious that Flaky was willing to go along, but was uneasy about Petunia's plan. She herself was not sure it was the wisest course to take, but since she had no alternative plan, she decided that Petunia's is better than nothing at all.

"She agreed! Flaky will come over with her treasure, and we'll drive to Mime with ours as well. My treasure is in my car," Petunia instructed. "As soon as Flaky is here, we'll go to Mime."

"Will Mime be okay with this?" asked Giggles.

"Yes," Petunia said, but with uncertainty in her voice.

Giggles could only hope that her blue friend knew what she was doing.

**Notes**

Shifty and Lifty found out about Giggles' hospital schedule by stealing the records of the hospital.


	4. The Super and the Silent Hero

**Windfall**

**Chapter IV**

**The S****uper and the Silent Hero**

A purple male deer, in his mid-twenties, normally was an early sleeper. Usually asleep by ten in the evening, he was already on his bed, but was kept awake by a novel he was reading. It was about half past eleven when he decided to put away his book and closed his eyes to sleep.

Mime was, as his name suggests, a mime artist. He does not talk. He communicates using hand gestures, which to his frustration, was sometimes not understood. It could have fatal consequences, like when he tried to inform the fire brigade about the fire in Petunia's house, and when, working at a circus, he tried to communicate to Toothy to put only two _spoons_ of gunpowder in the circus cannon. It was even worst when he tried to use the phone, or the speaker in the drive through restaurant, where having a voice is imperative. Yet he could _mostly_ make himself understood to the others, and he, when he had no choice, would write his messages on a piece of paper. He was close friends to most of the other tree friends and he had a steady income from his entertainment jobs.

He lives in a house that was, to outsiders, absurd. From the outside, it was only a small tent. But once they entered this "tent," they would enter a large spacious house without any furniture. As Shifty and Lifty attested, his sink, his plates, his cups, his tables, even his money and safe, were imaginary. Mime could use his voice to mimic the sounds of everyday items, and pretend they were real. However, on another room, hidden from view, is where his real room is located. Unlike the empty entrance room, this had real furniture, a real bed, real books, and real appliances. It was in this room that Mime lay on his and closed his eyes to sleep.

"Mime! Are you awake? Mime!"

He was startled to hear loud voices call his name. At first, he thought he was dreaming, or was hearing things, but the clarity of the voices made it plain that it was real. There were three feminine voices, and he knew who they belong to. It was Petunia, Giggles, and Flaky.

Yawning and stretching, he was a bit peeved at having to entertain visitors at this time of night, yet they were his friends. He reasoned that something important must be afoot for them to call at him at this hour.

"Mime! Mime!" he heard, and he went to his empty room where he saw Giggles, Petunia, and Flaky standing on the door. Any irritation at having called at this time of hour was quickly gone as he saw three of his closest friends.

With a big smile, he beckoned his friends with a wave to his arms to enter. The three girls cautiously went in. Mime "sat" down in an imaginary chair, and signalled the tree girls to sit in his non-existent "couch."

The tree girls were perplexed, but wanting to be polite, they tried to "sit." Failing that, they sat on the bare floor. Petunia, ever resourceful, brought three cushions which they sat on.

"Thanks," Flaky said.

There was a bit of silence and small talk until Petunia decided to proceed to business.

"Mime, we're sorry for calling at this time of hour," Petunia began. "But we need your help."

Mime's face grew serious, and motioned that he would help.

"But first," she continued, "this is a delicate matter. You have to promise to keep this a secret. You must not tell anyone about this, or that we asked your help."

Mime nodded in understanding.

"Do you promise not to tell anyone?" Giggles asked.

Mime nodded.

"And for your own sake, and ours, we can't tell you everything," Petunia added. "We can only tell you what you needed to know."

Mime was taken aback by this request, but the deer, seeing in the girls' faces their desperate situation, nodded.

"Very well. We know we can trust you," Giggles said. "We have in our possession something valuable. It is treasure, more valuable than anything you have ever seen in your life. We can't tell you how we got it. But it is ours, and we meant to keep it. Of course, Mime, we would give you an ample reward for this."

Mime signalled that he won't accept any reward, and that he's helping because of his concern for his friends.

"However, it is not safe in our hands right now. Why it is not safe with us we cannot tell you, and please, don't try to find out why. We needed to entrust our treasure to someone who we are sure can be trusted, and we know we could trust you," Petunia said. "Would you keep our treasure for us?"

Mime didn't hesitate when he nodded his head. He was proud that it is to him that the girls went when they were in trouble, and it is a privilege to help them in their hour of need.

Giggles and Petunia gave their thanks, and hugged Mime as a gesture of appreciation. Flaky, who was silent the entire time, merely smiled.

"Thanks. The treasure is in my car," Giggles said. "Would you please help us carry it?"

Mime nodded. He and the three girls then carried from Petunia's car six heavy treasure chests. Once they put it in the floor of Mime's home, the girls opened it for Mime to see.

Mime was more than astonished at the wealth that he saw. All six of the chests contained gold and silver coins, jewelry made from rare gems, diamonds, three green glowing nut shaped gems that he could not identify, and other precious stones. At that moment, he saw more wealth than he had seen during his entire life. He gazed at it for more than a minute before the girls closed and locked the chests.

"These six chests have been divided between Giggles, Flaky, and I," Petunia explained, "Now you see why you must keep your mouth shut. Please, keep this safe for us."

Mime now was even more flattered than before. That he was being entrusted with the care of such valuable treasure is an honor.

He gestured that he will do everything in his power to keep the treasure safe for the girls.

"Thank you very much," the girls, confident that they had made the right choice, said before they left.

* * *

Two days later…

It was a warm and pleasant afternoon. Giggles had not been at work that day since there were no patients at the hospital. All of them either died, or healed, so Lumpy dismissed Giggles, and would call her again when needed. He himself changed jobs. He was now the chief of police of the town. As for Giggles, she decided she would rest. Lumpy hadn't decided which job she would fill, so he gave her the time off.

She was walking alone on the street one afternoon humming to herself. She had just come from Petunia's home. They operated their lemonade stand in the morning, and in the hot weather that day, raked in their usual huge profits. They closed their lemonade shop at about noon, and ate lunch at Petunia's place. Petunia remained at home to clean her house, while Giggles walked towards Cuddles' house. She would have used her car, but it was such a nice day for a walk.

Her walk was interrupted when Lifty, alive and well, suddenly jumped in front of her from the alley besides the sidewalk she was walking on. She became petrified, and backed away. She was stopped when she bumped a body. Before she could turn around, an arm wrapped itself around her body, pinning her arms to her sides, while her scream was smothered by the palm of Shifty's hand covering her mouth.

Shifty quickly dragged her, kicking and screaming, into the alley from whence they came.

Lifty quickly searched her pockets and took her coins while Shifty talked to Giggles.

"You already know what this is all about," Shifty hissed to Giggles. "So you better cooperate if you know what's good for you."

Giggles nodded.

"Now, will you tell us where the treasure is?" Lifty asked.

She nodded her assent.

Shifty removed his hand from Giggles mouth to permit her to speak.

"Help!" she screamed for all her worth as soon as her mouth was free. "Somebody, please, help me!"

The scream was deafening, and so loud that, for a brief moment, left the raccoons stunned. Shifty, however, quickly covered her mouth and stifled another scream.

"So you want to play rough," Shifty snarled. "You're going—"

"Unhand her!" they heard a deep heroic voice from above.

The two raccoons looked up and saw the figure they most dreaded.

Splendid.

The two raccoons immediately ran. Splendid landed on the alley besides a dazed Giggles.

"Are you okay?" asked Splendid.

"Yes. Thanks to you," Giggles replied.

Splendid, seeing a garbage can nearby, took it, shaped it into a ball, and threw it into the fleeing raccoons.

The iron makeshift ball hit their targets, tearing a large hole in the Shifty and Lifty's bodies. Unfortunately, Splendid's throw was a little too strong, so, the iron ball, after hitting and killing Lifty and Shifty, continued on and hit the grocery store nearby, where Russell, Disco Bear, Toothy, Pop, Cub, Nutty, and Flaky were shopping, and where Cro Marmot was working as a butcher. The grocery store was levelled, and killed everyone in it except Pop, who just in the nick of time went out of the building. His son, however, who was in the grocery cart that Flaky was pushing behind Pop, was not so lucky. The collapse of the building, while sparing Pop, also killed Handy and the Mole, who were outside and were hit by the flying debris of metals and concrete.

Thus, in the space of a few seconds, Splendid killed eleven of the Tree Friends, two by design, and nine by accident.

"Cub!" Pop shouted as he began to dig under the rubble of the grocery store in a futile attempt to rescue his son.

Splendid was a bit discomfited for the deaths he caused. He quickly went to the dead bodies of the raccoons, and retrieved Giggles' stolen coins. "I believe this belongs to you!" Splendid shouted.

"Yes. They stole it!" Giggles shouted.

Splendid nodded, threw the coins to Giggles, and quickly flew away. The coins, however, were thrown a little too hard. Giggles tried to catch the coins, but the coins were too fast, and it hit her like bullets from a machine gun. One pierced the head and the brain, killing her instantly. Another coin penetrated her chest and was lodged in her heart. Another hit her stomach. She fell and lay on the ground, bleeding, and dead.

Splendid did not know of Giggles' death as he immediately flew away. Remembering the destruction of the grocery store, he was more embarrassed than remorseful, but he quickly shrugged the event off. Being a superhero, Splendid thought, was not the least bit like the ones seen and read on the comic books. He scoffed at the idea of the superheroes saving the world from bad guys without accidentally killing any innocent civilians. "You cannot save the world without collateral damage." That was Splendid's philosophy of being a superhero. "You tried to avoid unnecessary casualties if it was possible, but it would be preposterous to imagine you can save the world without killing innocent civilians in the process. It's just like bombing an enemy city in war. Innocent casualties are inevitable," Splendid once lectured to irate citizens.

And in Happy Tree Town, death is temporary, thus removing a large restraint on Splendid's superhero actions. He also, aside from Evil Flippy and Lumpy, became one of the few Tree Friends who has deliberately killed someone intentionally. He killed Shifty and Lifty by boiling them alive, and killed the Mole for merely annoying him.

Splendid flew towards the house of the person he was looking for. He was going there originally until he heard Giggles' scream. He was a bit frustrated that he had to save somebody before he can complete his mission, but such is a life of a superhero. Truth is, he never sought or wished to have superpowers, but fate never gave him a choice. He is what he is and he's not going to change it. Of course, he'd still try to have a normal life under an assumed identity, but it was challenging, to say the least.

He took a paper from his pocket and looked at it. "What was his address again?" he asked himself. He quickly flew to the address written on the paper.

He arrived a few minutes later besides a large house. The house, like most houses in town, is tree shaped, but unlike the others, this one is metallic, with the bolts clearly seen. He knocks on the door.

Sniffles gasped as he saw who was in front of him. Is it someone in a Splendid costume? No. It was the same superhero whom he saw at the comic convention. "Splendid?"

"Yes. The one and only. You are Sniffles, right?"

"Yes! Um, wait a minute!" Sniffles mumbled as he disappeared. A few seconds later, he appeared with a comic book in his hand with Splendid's picture and a pen. "This is Splendid Comic No. 17, my favourite issue! Can you please sign it?"

Splendid rolled his eyes. He clearly did not expect Sniffles to be a fan, and a nerdy one at that. Yes, he remembered Sniffles. He was the same anteater in a Splendid costume that asked his autograph in the wrecked comic con center. Splendid obliged, but killed Sniffles in the process. This time, there were no untoward incidents and no accidental deaths as he signed Sniffles' comic book.

"Oh my god! You actually visited me! Wait till my friends hear about this! Toothy would be so envious!" Sniffles laughed excitedly.

"May I come in?" Splendid asked. He was beginning to ask himself whether it was wise to ask the anteater for help.

"Where are my manners? Yes, come in, come in," Sniffles self-consciously replied.

"This is a nice place," Splendid commented.

"Splendid, um, can I have your picture taken with me?" Sniffles asked.

"Well, sure," Splendid said.

"Wait here," Sniffles excitedly said as he took his camera and mounted it on a tripod. "Can you please stand over there? Thank you. Now, this camera is remote controlled."

After making sure that the camera angle was good, he immediately went to Splendid's side, and using a remote control, snapped several pictures. "Thank you!" he could only say.

"I won't waste your time," Splendid said as soon as the picture taking and other pleasantries ended. "I need your help."

"But why me?" asked Sniffles. "I'm just an ordinary anteater."

"Don't be modest! You're a genius! I heard you built a time machine just because of spilled milk," Splendid complemented, "and built a rocket to the sun! I'll go direct to the point. I want you to help me. Will you do so?"

"It would be an honor!" Splendid reverently replied.

"Good. I have a problem that perhaps you can help with. A few days ago, I learned that three kryptonut gems were stolen from a vault of the Happy Tree museum. There were no witnesses, and no evidence, to tell who did the burglaries."

"Kryptonut? What's that?"

"Oh I forgot! Most of you don't know about it. Well, it's my weakness. I get sick when exposed to it, and it killed me when I accidentally inhaled kryptonut dust. To my knowledge, only Giggles, Petunia, Lifty, and Shifty knew the effect kryptonut has on me. I've been trying to find out where it is."

"And it's a secret, right? You don't want anyone else knowing about it," Sniffles concluded.

"Yes. It's bad enough that those raccoon brothers know about it. Imagine if Splendont knew about it too," Splendid remarked.

"Yes," the anteater replied. He was by now serious, as the gravity of the problem of Splendid became apparent to him. "I can imagine. Don't worry. I won't tell a soul."

"I knew I could rely on you," the superhero remarked. "Look, as you know, I'm a busy flying squirrel. Try as I might, I don't have the time to go around looking from missing kryptonut. That's where you come in!"

"You want me to look the kryptonut for you?" Sniffles asked.

"If that's alright with you," Splendid replied.

"Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! It would be such an honor to help the great Splendid!" Sniffles eagerly said.

"Good. You're task is to try to find the three missing pieces of kryptonut," Splendid said as he gave the anteater a picture of the green glowing gem.

"So that's what it's called!" Sniffles said as he looked at the picture. "And here I was thinking, when I first saw it in the museum three months ago, that it's just some sort of rare diamond in the shape of a nut. It just goes to show how much I don't know."

"Remember, only Shifty, Lifty, Giggles, Petunia, and you know about my weakness. I want it to stay that way," Splendid reminded Sniffles.

"Yes. Maybe Shifty and Lifty stole it. I mean they both have the knowledge, the means, and the motive to steal it," Sniffles suggested.

"I thought it was them too, but I killed them earlier today, just before I came here, when they tried to rob Giggles," the blue superhero stated. "If they had the kryptonut, they would have used it against me. They didn't. No. I don't believe they have it."

"Well, in that case," Sniffles said, "finding it would be a great adventure. I just hope that I don't die in the process, but knowing—" Sniffles was about to say Splendid, but he didn't want to offend his hero, "—the character of this town, I doubt it. But I promise you that I'll find it. What the heck! Even if I die ten times, it'll be an honor to be of service to you! Thanks for giving me the opportunity!"

Splendid hummed in approval. "Here's my card," the superhero said, handing Sniffles his business card. "Call me if you find anything."

The anteater pocketed the card as Splendid flew away. However, Splendid missed the open window by a few inches, and instead, flew through the metallic wall of the house. The impact tore the wall, and sent metal shards, bolts, screws, and nails flying in all directions. Sniffles' head was cut open at the head by one such shard, and he died a few seconds later. Splendid, as always, was ignorant of the fact that Sniffles had just died.


	5. Night Adventure

**Windfall**

**Chapter V**

**Night Adventure**

Giggles felt a gnawing pain in her head, stomach, and other parts of her body as she opened her eyes. She died and came back, she realized. It was nothing new. It had happened to her, and her friends, lots of times. Dying is like going to sleep. Your mind goes blank, you get some dreams, you wake up in the place you wished you where when you wake up—in this case, her bed in her house. She does not understand it, and not even Sniffles can explain the phenomenon of the frequent resurrections of the Happy Tree Friends. Injuries usually are permanent, until you die that is. When you wake up, you're good as new (unless the injury was sustained outside Happy Tree Town, then it would be permanent. Handy and Russell's amputations happened outside Happy Tree Town, for example). The deaths, however, were usually extremely painful, and the only painless death are the relatively quick ones.

"Good morning, Sunshine," Cuddles greeted besides her.

"Morning Cuddles. I died again, didn't I?" Giggles yawned.

"Yes. Don't worry. You're not alone. It was Splendid, wasn't it?" the rabbit asked.

"As usual," Giggles said. "I like Splendid. He does a lot of good, but he sometimes can be a bit too careless."

"Yeah. He killed not only you, but a bunch of our friends as well. Mime, Flippy, Petunia, Pop, and I are the only ones, I think, that didn't die because of Splendid," Cuddles remembered.

"Anyone who's already revived?" asked Giggles.

"Well, Toothy just came back two hours ago. Disco Bear is still dead, but we're expecting him to be back before dark. Cub, Mime, Russell and all the others were alive since at least dawn."

"Glad to hear about it," Giggles said. "Cuddles, why are you so glum and serious?"

Cuddles indeed lacked his usual cheery mood and happy countenance. He was smiling, but Giggles could see the worry in his eyes.

"You died. And the others died," Cuddles began.

"But that happens all the time. What's the real reason?" the perceptive Giggles asked.

"Shifty and Lifty. I'm beginning to think it is not simple robbery. They're after you, Giggles, for some reason I can't imagine. The moment I heard that you were waylaid, I knew that they're not after your things, but you. And that's what worries me. I'm willing to meet them on equal terms, but I'm not willing that you would be their victim once again."

"Oh you're being paranoid," Giggles replied, fearing that Cuddles is being dangerously close to the truth. "I think it's simple robbery. Don't worry about it."

"Why don't we go and ask for police protection?" he suggested.

"No. No. No," Giggles said in no uncertain terms. "I do not fear for my life, and I can always meet any threat of Shifty and Lifty. I know you're worried, but please, I can take care of myself. You don't have to do anything. I'll be fine."

"I hope you're right," Cuddles replied. But back in his mind, he's convinced that Giggles is underestimating the danger from Shifty and Lifty. And he would protect Giggles, whether Giggles wants to, or not.

* * *

Mime was having a problem. Two days had gone by since he was approached for help by Giggles, Petunia, and Flaky, and he had no idea where to hide the treasure. Or, more accurately, he had an idea, but he can't do it alone, and he has promised the girls that he would tell no one about it. He knows that he cannot keep it in his tent. It would be too easy to rob. He now had doubts whether it was wise to offer help to the girls, but he has made his decision, and he's going to stick by it. He has a plan, but it would violate his pledge to the girls to keep it a secret. But leaving it in his tent, he judged, would be pure folly. He has two promises—that he would keep it safe for them, and that he would tell no one. He knows that he can't keep one without violating the other. He made a decision.

That afternoon, after spending the morning and having lunch with Giggles, Cuddles was walking besides the road together with Toothy.

"Giggles is so stubborn," Cuddles complained to Toothy. "I know that the raccoons are after her, and that she needed to be protected. Why can't she trust her common sense and let me protect her?"

"Maybe she doesn't believe she's in real danger," Toothy suggested. "I mean it's not as if she doesn't die almost every week."

"It's not Giggles being killed that worries me," said Cuddles, "it's about being kidnapped. You die you come back, you get kidnapped, you don't. If it weren't for Splendid, Shifty and Lifty would have taken her to God knows where, and done to her, well, I don't want to imagine what would have happened if Shifty and Lifty had their way. Why they would want to take her, I don't know, but there it is."

"So what are you planning to do?" Toothy asked.

"I can't be there for her all the time," Cuddles replied. "But I think she's most vulnerable at night. I'm suggesting that you and I go and stay outside of her house at night—in other words a stakeout. That way, if any of the raccoons go back, she won't be alone."

Before Toothy could reply, he was interrupted.

* * *

Mime was in his unicycle, looking for someone. Looking around, he finally spotted the two whom he was looking for, talking to each other. Perfect, he thought. He didn't need to go after them separately because they are together. They seem to be deep in conversation, and he didn't want to butt in. Mime, however, did so, and surprised Cuddles and Toothy by his sudden appearance.

"Mime!" Cuddles greeted.

"How are you doing?" Toothy added. "I'm glad you didn't die along with the rest of us two days ago!"

Mime smiled, shook both of their hands, and laughed. He then turned serious and tried to communicate his desire to ask them for help.

Cuddles and Toothy looked with perplexity at Mime's hand gestures, and despite their best efforts, they simply could not understand what Mime is trying to say. "I'm sorry," Cuddles interrupted. "I don't get what you're saying."

The deer, however, was prepared for this eventuality. He took a small notebook, and began writing.

"_I need your help,"_ he wrote and gave it to Cuddles and Toothy.

"Sure. What can we do?" asked Cuddles.

He then wrote another message in his notebook. _"Meet me at my tent. Do not follow me but use another way. Do not tell anyone else that I am meeting you. Secrecy is of the utmost importance."_

Cuddles was surprised. Something was afoot, and there was a sense of thrill and excitement that appealed to Cuddles' adventurous nature. "Yes. We won't tell anyone, won't we, Toothy?"

"No we won't," the beaver replied.

Mime nodded his hand in understanding, and left them.

Cuddles and Toothy, using a different route from that used by Mime, went to Mime's home. Mime was already waiting when they entered the "tent."

"So, what do we do?" asked an eager and excited Cuddles.

"Yeah! Tell us already!" Toothy, also excited, added.

Mime took his notebook, tore off a page, and passed it on to Cuddles and Toothy.

"_Thank you. First of all, I must have your word that you won't tell anyone about this. This is top secret._"

"Yes, I won't tell anyone," said Cuddles.

"Me too. I won't," Toothy agreed.

Mime then passed another note to the two.

"_I have a friend in need. He has something that he asked me to keep._" Mime deliberately used "he_"_ to make to make it difficult if not impossible for the two identify the "friend." Plus he used a singular pronoun "he" instead of "they" to mislead the two further. He had no intention of divulging the fact that it was Giggles, Petunia, and Flaky who had asked his help in the first place. "_I promised to help him, but I cannot do it on my own. I need your help to transport his treasure to a secure location. Will you do so?"_

Cuddles and Toothy nodded.

Mime tore another note, and handed it to Cuddles and Toothy.

"_The treasure belongs to a man who is already rich. There is an island off the coast of Happy Tree Town where I will bury it. Don't ask me the identity of the friend. He asked me to keep it secret, and I will respect that. Tonight, after dark, we'll again meet here. Bring your car with you. Also bring shovels and picks. I have a boat on the coast."_

"Even though I know it's none of my business," Cuddles said, "but can I look at the treasure?"

Mime smiled and nodded. He beckoned them to follow him. Cuddles went to another room, followed by the rabbit and the beaver. On the room were two treasure chests. Mime took the key that the girls gave him and opened it for the two boys to see.

"Wow! That guy sure is loaded!" Cuddles remarked as he saw the coins, the jewels, the three green glowing nut shaped gems which he could not identify, and the money and the wealth.

"Yeah! Look at all these wealth!" Toothy said. "Why, I could buy a house with that kind of money!"

Mime closed the chest and handed another note to Cuddles and Toothy. "_These matters are of strict confidentiality. I repeat, don't tell anyone. If you do, I would have betrayed his trust._"

"We won't tell a soul," Toothy affirmed.

Mime nodded and handed another note. "_Thank you. At seven tonight, meet me here. We will do this tonight._"

"You can count on us," Cuddles said.

* * *

Later…

Flippy was at his home reading a book. The war veteran was living in a hollowed out log full of war and historic memorabilia. He had an affliction that plagued his life. A decorated veteran, he had a severe case of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Whenever something, or someone, reminds him of war, he becomes a murderous maniac. In other words, he flips. That is why he considers it a blessing that he lives in Happy Tree Town. He hated killing his friends, but at least they don't stay dead. He has a wonderful set of friends in this town that understood his plight, and made his stay here such an enjoyable part of his life. Ever since his battle against Evil Flippy in his mind, he has gained a slight ascendancy over his evil counterpart, but it is a precarious superiority. He can better control it, but not totally. He can resist Evil Flippy more, but not always. But at least, he can spend more time with his friends without any incident. Previous, about 2/3 of his outings with his friends resulted in flip outs that murdered most if not all his companions. Now, he only flips about an average of 35% when he goes outside. It's still not acceptable to Flippy, but at least it's better than before.

There was a knock on the door. The bear opened and was surprised to see Cuddles and Toothy. He had not expected them to call because of the recent spate of deaths caused by Splendid. He greeted them, and welcomed them to his home. They exchanged a few pleasantries, before Cuddles proceeded to business. They sat on a couch on Flippy's living room.

"Flippy, we need a favor," Cuddles started.

"A favor? Well, go ahead. Just ask and I'll see what I can do," Flippy replied.

"I assume you know what happened to Giggles, concerning Shifty and Lifty," Cuddles began.

"I know. She was attacked—twice," Flippy confirmed.

"What we want," Toothy asked, "is that you help us protect Giggles."

"Yes. We fear that Shifty and Lifty will come back. It's not robbery. No. Shifty and Lifty, for some reason, want to kidnap Giggles," Cuddles explained.

"Have you considered asking for police protection?" Flippy asked.

"Giggles would have none of it," Cuddles replied. "I decided that would protect her by doing a stakeout on her house at night. That way, if Shifty and Lifty attacks, I can defend her."

"I see," Flippy replied.

"But, we have an important thing to do tonight that can't be missed," Toothy said. "We have a friend in need."

"A friend in need?" asked Flippy. "And who is this friend?"

"Sorry, we can't tell. It's a secret," Cuddles snapped. "What we are asking you is that you would go and camp out just outside Giggles' home tonight. In other words do a stakeout. Protect Giggles. Make her safe. But don't tell her or show yourself to her. It would be an insult to Giggles if she finds out that I asked someone else to look after her without her consent. If Shifty and Lifty come back, stop them. Do what you must but make them pay if they try to hurt Giggles."

"But why me?" asked Flippy. "I might kill Giggles, you know."

"Because we trust you, and you have the ability to stop Shifty and Lifty. They're scared of you," Cuddles said. "Would you do this for me?"

Flippy decided that if Giggles was in trouble and Cuddles was asking him to help, then he would help. "Okay, I'll help."

"Thanks," Cuddles and Toothy said.

* * *

Mime was in his "tent," waiting for the arrival of Cuddles and Toothy. Two of six treasure chests were at his feet. He originally was going to bury in the island all the six chests, but decided not to put all his eggs in one basket. Not that he doesn't trust Cuddles and Toothy, but he was merely being cautious.

It was about seven, and he was expecting Cuddles and Toothy arrive any minute. He heard the engine of a vehicle arrive. Looking out of this "tent," he saw Cuddles and Toothy step out of the rabbit's car.

Mime smiled as he saw them, and then turned serious. He beckoned them to help him lift the treasure chests. Cuddles, and Toothy, without a word, carried the two heavy chests and placed them in the car. They drove to the beach, where a motorboat was waiting for them.

They carried the treasure chests and the digging tools to the boat. Cuddles and Toothy steered the boat according to Mime's directions, and in an hour, they reached the island. Mime and company went deep inside the island, stopped, and with a stick, drew a large _X _on the ground and began digging. Cuddles and Toothy got their respective picks and shovels and began digging also.

* * *

Pop hummed to himself as he adjusted his tie. He was wearing a brown suit, a brown hat, and a red tie. He was going to meet some business associates, and he would be gone for a few hours in the evening. Cub was crawling around the house, with Pop's usual (in)attention. Luckily, Cub did not get in any situation which would hurt him so he was perfectly fine when he was picked up by his father.

He looked lovingly upon his little child. Oh he loves him so! He reminds him of Cub's mother. One of his greatest regrets is not moving in Happy Tree Town sooner. Sure, death is fact of life in Happy Tree Town, but at least his wife would still be alive. Now, all he could do was to arrange for her to be reburied in Happy Tree Town once he found out the nature of the town. As for Cub, the only thing that he is thankful for in this town is that death is not permanent, or he would have lost Cub permanently. There was never a day gone by which he never regrets the deaths of his son that he caused.

It was seven in the evening, and its time to call the babysitter. He dialed the phone and waited for an answer.

"Hello?" a female voice from the other line answered.

"Petunia, it's me, Pop!"

"Hey Pop," Petunia greeted politely.

"Yes. I was wondering if you're free tonight. I need to go somewhere and I need someone to babysit Cub."

"Oh I'm available. What time to do you want me to come over?"

"Oh no! I'd rather I leave Cub with you at your home. Is that okay with you?"

"Sure!"

"That's wonderful, Petunia!"

"Well, I'm coming over with Cub right away!"

"Excellent! I'm sure Cub and I will have a great time together."

"Well, bye," Pop said before hanging up.

* * *

Petunia looked around her house. She was well nigh satisfied with the state of her house. It was conspicuously clean—so clean, in fact, that everything is shiny. Not a speck of dust can be seen in any of her furniture.

She was anticipating a pleasant evening. It was not the first time she would baby-sit Cub, and she had enjoyed taking care of the cute little toddler. Maybe it was her maternal instincts, but she found herself naturally proficient at taking care of small kids. She had no real worry. She was not as careless and as clumsy as Pop, and consequently, Cub rarely dies under her care.

It was half-an hour after Pop's call when she heard the doorbell ring. She opened the door and saw Pop and Cub.

"Pop! Cub!" Petunia greeted. "How are you tonight?"

"Fine. Thanks for taking in Cub at such short notice. I would have called earlier but, well, you know, things happened so quickly," Pop replied.

"It's okay. I love taking care of Cub. I'm charging the usual rate," Petunia said.

"Oh yes. If Cub died, I'll pay nothing. If you died because of Cub, I'll pay double," Pop said. "Well, you know where to call me in case anything happens. Bye! See you in about two hours!"

Pop gave Cub to Petunia and drove off.

* * *

Cuddles and Toothy patted with their shovels the last of the dirt as they finished the burial of the two treasure chests. They grunted in satisfaction.

"There! That's a well buried treasure, if I say so myself!" Toothy remarked.

"Yup! No one's going to find it unless they know what they're looking for, and know where to look!" Cuddles concurred. "So Mime, do you think we've done a good job or what? Mime?"

They turned and saw Mime writing on a piece of white paper using a nearby tree stump as a desk and a lamp for illumination.

"Mime? What are you doing?" asked Toothy as he approached the deer. "Looked, we finished burying the treasure!"

"Yeah!" Cuddles said. "What's next?"

But Mime was too intent in what he is doing to notice his companions.

Hearing no response, the two friends approached Mime, and looked at what he was doing.

"A map! A Treasure map!" Cuddles exclaimed, seeing what Mime was doing.

Mime finally looked at Cuddles, smiled, and nodded, then resumed his work.

"I bet it is for your mysterious friend," Toothy commented.

"You're going to give it to him?" Cuddles asked, referring to the "friend."

Mime did not reply as he finished. He put it into a bottle, and plugged it with a cork. He then gave it to Toothy, and gestured that he should hold on to it until they get back to the mainland.

"Do you think that your friend will like what you did with his treasure? I mean, aren't you giving him extra work?" asked Cuddles.

Mime shook his head.

"Maybe you buried it just to make sure it won't get lost," Cuddles suggested. "And the map is so that you can find it again when he wants to get it back."

Mime nodded.

"But would you tell him where you buried the treasure?" asked Cuddles.

Mime shrugged, indicating that he still didn't know the answer to that question.

Mime, Toothy, and Cuddles were at the motor boat, on the trip back to town. Toothy was playing with the bottle that contains the treasure map. He was tossing it in his hand like a toy.

"Be careful!" Cuddles cautioned. "You might lose it!"

"Oh, don't be a killjoy!" Toothy exclaimed. "You don't have to worry about anything! I've got a sure grip on things!"

However, as he said this, his hand slipped, and the bottle fell overboard.

"Toothy! You clumsy idiot!" Cuddles shouted. "Mime, stop the engine!"

Mime did as suggested, but the bottle with the map was already carried far from the boat by the ocean current.

"Don't worry! I'll get it!" Toothy, donning a life jacket, shouted as he jumped into the sea and swam to retrieve the bottle.

Cuddles started the engine and steered the boat to bring it nearer to Toothy and the bottle.

"See! I got it!" the purple beaver shouted as he grabbed the floating and held it up to his head.

Cuddles waved but turned white with fear as he saw something move in the sea. The night was clear and the moon was full, so he could see the dorsal fin of a shark heading towards Toothy. "Toothy! There's a shark! Get back here!" Cuddles shouted.

Toothy turned around, and saw the shark fin approach him. He gave a loud, hysterical, high pitched scream, as he began to swim frantically towards the boat.

He reached the edge of the boat. "Give me your hand!" Cuddles said. Toothy gave his right hand to the rabbit, with his left hand holding the bottle. Cuddles began to pull Toothy from the water.

Before he could pull the beaver out of the water, they heard a loud crunching sound from under the boat as Toothy shouted in pain. Blood soon surrounded the water around the boat as flesh and guts were seen floating by Cuddles and Mime. The two looked at the face of their comrade, and it was clear that he was dead. Still, hoping against hope, they pulled Toothy.

Toothy's lower body from the chest was missing, and they could see the mangled organs protruding from his upper torso. Cuddles and Mime knew that Toothy, along with the treasure map, was gone.

The rabbit shouted a sad scream of anguish, cried as hard as he can, before he dumped the body of his close friend into the ocean. Mime closed his eyes and gave a silent prayer as they saw the shark eat the body they just dumped.

Thanks to XxEvilFlippyXx for the review!


	6. Petunia Revealed

**Windfall**

Sorry about the delay. I was going to post this chapter on Monday, but I got sick, and only got well enough to complete it about yesterday. Well, hope you enjoy this chapter. It's a long one.

**Chapter VI**

**Petunia Revealed**

Flippy, using his binoculars, looked at Giggles' home from the comfort of his jeep. He parked his vehicle some distance from her house so that Giggles would not notice it, but positioned it so that he can easily see what was going on.

"See anything?" Flaky asked. Flaky was planning to visit Giggles that night, but stumbled upon Flippy as he was preparing to spy on Giggles. She decided to accompany the green bear. She felt safer with Flippy than with Giggles anyway.

"No," said Flippy. "Nothing unusual."

"That's a relief," Handy, who was sitting on the back of the jeep, replied. Handy also came across Flippy during the first hour of the stakeout, and decided to help. Flippy was only too glad to have company.

"Do you really think Shifty and Lifty are after Giggles?" asked Handy.

"I hope not," Flaky replied. "I'd be scared to death if it was me who they were after."

"Cuddles is convinced of that, and looking at the facts, I'm beginning to think he's right," Flippy said. "Remember your promise. Not a word about this to Giggles, or Petunia for that matter. Cuddles would be upset if anyone of you told any of them about this!"

"You can count of me!" Handy snapped.

Flaky was in a delicate situation. She knows why Shify and Lifty are after Giggles. She could surmise from their actions that they don't know that she and Petunia are involved, but that could change. Oh how she wished she could tell the others of her fear. But Petunia would not let her, and she felt bound by her promise. Plus, she now knows of Cuddles' protection plan. It won't be liked by Giggles, but Flaky was convinced that it is necessary. So she affirmed her promise not to tell Giggles about Cuddles' actions. "Me too. I won't tell her."

Flippy nodded in thanks. "So far, nothing's amiss. If this keeps up, we would have to—"

Before he could finish his sentence, he was interrupted by a tap on his door. He turned and he saw Cuddles. He quickly let Cuddles in, and the rabbit sat at the back. Something about Cuddles caught his attention—his fur was stained on several places by blood.

He nearly flipped out then and there by the sight, but snapped out of it. "What happened to you?"

"Toothy died in an accident," Cuddles stated. "I was with him when it happened. Don't ask how it happened. I'm not in the mood to talk about it."

Flippy nodded in understanding, as it probably has something to do with the secret mission for his mysterious "friend."

"I hope you don't mind, but I've asked for some help in guarding Giggles," the green bear mentioned.

"It's okay. The more the merrier. As long as they don't tell Giggles about this," Cuddles remarked.

"We won't," Handy assured.

"Yeah. Your secret is safe with us," Flaky added.

* * *

Unfortunately, the exact time Cuddles entered the jeep and distracted Flippy and the others was the same time Shifty and Lifty arrived. They parked their van behind Giggles' house, and entered by the back door. Thus, they weren't noticed by Flippy and company.

Giggles was utterly surprised by Shifty and Lifty's presence. Perhaps she shouldn't be because of past events, but she nevertheless didn't expect them to strike so soon. The raccoons quickly grabbed her and tied her up to a chair. They tied her the usual way—hands behind back, at the ankles and at the waist, and roped her to a heavy chair. They stuffed a large piece of cloth in Giggles mouth, and tied a handkerchief around her head and over her mouth to keep the packing in.

The raccoons snickered as they laid bear traps in front of the front door just in case someone intruded on their interrogation. They do not want a repeat of what happened last time. If someone like Cuddles barged in, he would be in for a surprise!

"Now, we got you! And don't think you can count of your superhero friend either! We happen to know that he's out of town this evening!" Shifty laughed as he talked to Giggles.

"Now will you cooperate? Because if not, we'll take you with us, and we won't let you go until you give us what we want!" Lifty warned. He then showed her a bucket of water that he took from the bathroom. He took the ice tray from the freezer, and dumped all the ice on the water. "We'll dump this on you if you become too difficult," Lifty threatened, though he had no intention of actually doing so. He only wanted to scare Giggles into cooperation.

Shifty removed her gag. He however, held the mouth packing just outside her mouth in order to jam in it quick if she attempted to scream. "Shout, and this will go back to your mouth, got it?"

"Yes," she whispered weakly. She was by now really frightened. She did not care if they killed her or not, but was scared by the thought of being taken away.

"Now, tell us where you hid the treasure?" Shifty asked.

"I tell you, Petunia and I—" Giggles suddenly stopped as she realized her slip of the tongue. "I mean, I don't know what treasure you're talking about. I have no treasure hidden in this house!"

"Petunia?" Lifty asked. "So she's involved in this as well?"

"No. Well, there's nothing to this treasure. So how can she be involved? I'm not involved. Neither is she nor anyone else except you two!" Giggles reasoned.

The two raccoons looked at each other and snickered.

* * *

After a bit of a chat with Cuddles, Flaky, and Handy, Flippy resumed his watch over Giggles. Grabbing his binoculars, he again looked at the open windows of Giggles' home. At first, he saw nothing. Then he noticed something move across the window. Even though he only saw it for a second, the figure on the window was unmistakable. It was Shifty.

"Oh my God!" Flippy shouted.

* * *

Russell looked at pride at his ship. It was not modern in any sense. No, its design harkened back to the Golden Age of Piracy during the 17-18th centuries. It was a galleon, powered by the wind, with massive masts and large square sails, with vines of rigging, and powerful cannons. Though he owns a fleet of modern ships, he preferred to use this type of ship, as it reminded him of his beloved past profession. He had lost his eye, his hand, and both legs to piracy, but to him, it never lost its charm. Even if he had settled down in Happy Tree Town, he liked to remind himself—and others—that he had once been a pirate. He lived in a tree house that has the shape of an eighteenth century ship. He wore a pirate shirt and a black tricorne hat with the skull and crossbones logo. And the fact that he wore an eye patch, had a hooked hand, and two peg legs would give an anachronistic impression of Russell. He seemed to step right out of the pages of history. And the fact that he liked to work in jobs that would either be nautical, or nautically themed, further reinforced his image.

He boarded his galleon and sailed into the night. He would have gone earlier if not for the fact that he spent most of the day recovering from dying only two days before. Tonight, he would catch fish. But this was no ordinary fishing expedition. He was going to catch only one fish.

He loaded his equipment into the dinghy, lowered it, and himself, to the water. He rowed some distance away from his ship. When he was satisfied, he stopped. He brought with him a live chicken, a knife, and a harpoon. No, he was not going to catch a whale. He took his chicken, slit its throat using a knife, and threw it to the sea. The resulting shedding of blood soon attracted a shark, to Russell's delight.

When the shark tried to eat the dead chicken, the sea otter pirate picked up his harpoon and threw it as hard as he could. "Got ye now!"

"Yarr!" he yelled triumphantly as the harpoon impaled the shark. He gave a few hard thugs on the rope to make sure the shark was dead, and pulled it towards the boat.

* * *

"Giggles, tell us! Where's the treasure?" Shifty asked.

As soon as Giggles opened her mouth to reply, Shifty stuffed the mouth packing back into her mouth and retied the handkerchief around her head. As soon as Giggles was gagged, he conferred with his brother.

"Even if Giggles here don't say anything else, we know Petunia's involved," Shifty said.

"Yeah. The treasure has got to be in her place," Lifty added.

Shifty turned to Giggles. "You think you're so smart, eh? You keep denying you know anything about the treasure while we looked around your house. While all in all, it is at Petunia's place! Well, I figured out your game! The treasure is at Petunia's, right? That slip of the tongue will cost you dear!" He them made his trademark snicker.

Giggles shook her head, trying, fruitlessly, to tell them that Petunia had nothing to do with this.

"And guess what? We're going to Petunia's to take what is rightfully ours! And you're going with us so you won't call the police or anybody else!" Lifty cackled.

Shifty smiled. "Ha! Now you will see what it means to—"

He was interrupted when somebody barged in the front door.

"Let her go!" Cuddles shouted.

The two raccoons and the chipmunk looked at the front door and saw Flippy, Cuddles, Handy, and Flaky, all looking angry.

The two raccoons decided to run.

The four began to chase the raccoons, but Handy, who had gone first, accidentally stepped on one of the bear traps. The force of the trap chopped his left foot at the knee. Handy screamed as blood poured forth from his chopped knee.

Flippy, who was just behind Handy, saw this, and it was too much. It reminded him of the war, and he flipped.

Flaky and Cuddles was terrified when they heard his low pitched laugh, and they knew. Evil Flippy picked up the one legged Handy, and with sadistic pleasure, took one of the bear traps, and snapped it at the orange beaver's head. There was a pitiful scream as his head was sliced off and blood splattered all over the grinning Evil Flippy and the rest of the room.

Cuddles, white with fear, nevertheless slowly but surely sidestepped the bear traps on the floor as he inched his way to Giggles. He tried to do it as silently as possible to avoid getting Flippy's attention (who was still killing Handy). He reached Giggles, but he discovered that she had fainted. He then tried to untie Giggles, but he could not figure out how to undo the intricate knots that the raccoons used.

Before he could make any headway, he heard the sound he most dreaded. "Well, well," he heard Evil Flippy said. "Looks like two more have just joined the fun!" Cuddles looked and saw that Evil Flippy was advancing towards them with his bowie knife. He knew that look, and unless he did something, his time is up. He gave up trying to undo the knots binding Giggles, and instead dragged her—chair and all—away. But he failed as the chair was quite heavy. "Flippy, don't!" Cuddles shouted as he hugged Giggles and awaited his fate.

Flaky looked on the scene with dread. Afraid, she nevertheless wanted to help. She saw something. The bucket of cold water! She bit her tongue to stifle her fear, and ran to get the bucket. She inadvertently stepped on one of the bear traps, which snapped at her feet. She gave a loud scream as it bled and broke the bones of her shin. She struggled as she hopped with one foot. Finally, she reached the bucket. She picked it up—luckily, she was just behind Flippy (about to kill Cuddles and Giggles) by this time—and threw the water and ice on Flippy.

The effort, however, caused her to lose her balance, and she fell back. Her head hit one of the bear traps, and it snapped close on her neck, breaking it, and killing her.

The effect of being dumped ice cold water snapped Flippy back. "Huh!" he said as he dropped his knife and looked around. He saw Handy, and knew he was responsible for his death. "Oh no! I killed Handy!" he shouted, and saw Flaky dead. "And Flaky!"

"No, you only killed Handy," Cuddles comforted as he took the bowie knife that Flippy just dropped to cut the ropes binding Giggles.

"Where's Shifty and Lifty?" asked Flippy as he began to clean the carnage.

"They escaped," Cuddles said.

"It's my fault!" Flippy said. "I shouldn't have accepted this mission!"

"You did great," Cuddles comforted. "Giggles is alive and well, and that's all that matters."

Flippy nodded as removed the rest of the bear traps while Cuddles put Giggles on her bed in her room.

* * *

Petunia was playing with Cub. She already had fed him dinner, and he was playing with some of Petunia's dolls. Luckily, Cub was too young to know that he's not supposed to play with dolls. The blue skunk laughed. Pop would surely flip if he found out that she had been encouraging Cub to play with dolls.

She heard a knock on her door. Pop was early, she thought. "I'm coming!" she shouted as she opened the door.

She was surprised when Shifty and Lifty forced their way in. Shifty held Petunia while Lifty covered her mouth to stifle her scream. They quickly bound her to a nearby chair the same way they bound Giggles earlier in the night.

"Promise not to scream and we won't gag you," Shifty warned.

Petunia, frightened, nodded.

"Okay," Lifty said as he removed his hand from her mouth.

"Please don't hurt Cub!" Petunia said as soon as could talk.

"Huh? Cub? Oh yes!" Shifty wondered. He looked around and only now noticed Cub playing on the floor by himself. "There you are. Don't worry. Uncle Shifty won't let anything happen to you."

"What are we going to do with the kid?" asked Lifty.

"Go and take care of him," Shifty instructed. "I'll ask the questions!"

"What? I have to take care of the baby while you get all the easy jobs?" Lifty protested.

"Yes! Because I say so! Now do it!"

"Cub has already eaten and I had prepared his bottle of milk," Petunia instructed as Lifty went to pick Cub.

"Now missy," Shifty began, "where's the treasure?"

"What treasure?" Petunia replied.

"Don't play games. We know you have it," Shifty said.

"I don't have any treasure! Search my house and you won't find anything," Petunia said.

Shifty sighed. He should have known that this would happen. "Look, we both know that you know where the treasure is. So let's stop this charade! Come clean! Tell us where it is!"

"Please! You're crazy! If this is some sort of sick joke, it's not funny!"

"Giggles ratted you out!" Shifty blurted. "Quit pretending you're all innocent!"

"You're lying! Giggles would never lie! She'd never put her friends in harm's way!"

In the meantime, Lifty was busy taking care of Cub. He was appalled that Petunia would let him play with dolls, so he quickly took it away, to Cub's displeasure. He went to the kitchen, where he found the bottle of milk, and gave it to Cub. He went to the living room, with Cub, and sat on the couch. He put the TV on a kid's channel, and watched TV with the baby.

* * *

Sniffles decided that this day, or rather, night, he would begin his inquiries by asking the two people who knew about the existence of kryptonut—no, not Shifty and Lifty, but Giggles and Petunia. He wondered over to Giggles' home, hoping that the urgency of his mission would make up for coming over at such a late hour. He would have come earlier, but it was only now that the full effects of his recent death wore off. He was healthy, but the fact that he suffered two deaths in the span of four days slowed his recovery somehow. And he spent most of the day, while recovering, repairing his home. Sniffles shook his head. His hero, Splendid, killed him—again. Yet he could not hate him, or lose his admiration. Splendid is still a superhero that seemed the embodiment of perfection.

The lights of Giggles' house was still on—a good sign. He noticed Flippy's jeep parked nearby. Giggles has visitors, Sniffles concluded. Then she wouldn't mind another visitor. The anteater approached Giggles' door, and was about to knock, when the door opened, and Flippy went out dragging two dead bodies—that of Flaky and Handy.

"Flippy! What happened?" he asked as he followed Flippy who put the bodies in a corner and covered it with canvas. They would disappear when they revived, and before it could smell.

"I flipped," Flippy said. "But it's a long story."

"Giggles is alive?" asked Sniffles.

"Yes," Flippy said as they went back to the house. "Both of them were killed by bear traps. Handy by design—I killed him using a bear trap, and the other by accident—Flaky fell on them and snapped her neck. Giggles is asleep."

When they entered the house, they saw Cuddles cleaning the blood on the floor. In town, very few use carpet because of the frequent spilling of blood. The floor is made up of linoleum, and it is pretty easy to clean blood on such.

"Sniffles!" Cuddles greeted with his usual zest, but without a smile. "What brings you here?"

"I was going to visit Giggles. What happened?" Sniffles asked.

Flippy and Cuddles quickly briefed the genius on what was going on.

"Oh I see. Well, since you two are here, may I ask you a question?" Sniffles asked.

"Sure," the two replied.

Sniffles took out his picture of kryptonut. "Have you two lately seen this piece of jewel?"

Flippy looked at it and honestly said, "No. Haven't seen it lately. There's one in the museum, I think. I saw it there about a year ago when I last visited. I can't even remember what it's called. I don't know if it's still on display."

Cuddles, on the other hand, saw it, but was bound to Mime by his promise of secrecy. "Why?"

Sniffles did not want to divulge Splendid's secret, especially his weakness, so he lied. "Oh just for study. I'm doing a catalogue on different types of gems."

It was not important, Cuddles concluded. Sniffles does not need to know. "No. I haven't seen any gems like that," he replied.

Sniffles sighed. "So how's Giggles?"

"Giggles is resting. She's okay," Cuddles confirmed.

* * *

Shifty was getting impatient with Petunia. The blue skunk was getting on his nerves. She was just as stubborn as Giggles.

"Look, lady, if you don't cooperate, I'll gag you!" Shifty threatened. "Splendid is out of town so you don't have any choice. Either you talk about where you hid the treasure, or you won't talk about anything at all!"

"I'd like to help you, but I don't know anything about any treasure!" Petunia insisted.

"You asked for it!" Shifty said. He left Petunia and went into her room. He came back carrying six pieces of handkerchief. Taking three, he rolled it into a gigantic ball. "See this? This comes into your mouth if you don't talk! Now, where is the treasure?"

Petunia, however, was now resigned to her fate. She would not talk about the treasure, no matter what. The treasure belongs to the three of them—Giggles, Flaky and Petunia—and no amount of threats could induce her to betray her friends' trust. "Oh please, don't gag me! It would kill me! Please! I don't know anything! Please! I really don't know what treasure you're talking about! I don't want that thing in my mouth—"

Shifty was so thoroughly irritated by her voice and useless chattering that he quickly shoved the ball of cloth into her mouth. He knew that she wouldn't divulge her secret so it would be useless to allow her to use her mouth. The cloth was so large that even as it swelled her cheeks, it barely fit her mouth and its end protruded from her lips. It nearly choked her. Shifty took another large handkerchief, folded it into a long band, tied a knot into its center, shoved it between her teeth, pushing the ball of cloth deeper into her mouth, and tightly tied the ends behind her head. He took the last handkerchief, and tied it over her lips and over the first two gags. As a result, Petunia's screams were reduced to barely audible whispers.

"You don't want to talk?" Shifty laughed. "No you won't talk at all. Now, after I find the treasure, I'll rob you of every last possession you have."

He patted her in the head. He then dragged her—chair and all—and put her into a large walk-in closet. He switched off the light of the closet, laughed, and closed the door, shrouding the blue skunk in darkness.

As soon as Petunia was out of the way, Shifty began to systematically ransack her house. He didn't find the treasure, of course, as unbeknownst to him, it was already out of his reach. As for Lifty, he continued to play with Cub and to take care of his needs.

* * *

Russell had reason to be proud. Alone, carrying only a harpoon, he had felled a vicious shark ten times his larger than himself. This fishing expedition was more of a hunt. His intention was that he would mount the head of the shark on his wall as a trophy while selling the rest of the body on the market. The trophy would decorate his living room, and would testify to visitors of his prowess with the harpoon, and his mastery of the sea.

He dragged the carcass from his dinghy into his ship. He removed the harpoon impaling the dead shark, then took his knife and slit open its belly. He began to remove the guts from the shark when he discovered something unusual.

There was something shiny in the stomach of the shark. Grabbing it, he found that it was a corked bottle with a rolled piece of paper inside. Now he was curious. He cleaned the bottle and his hand, dried his hand, went inside his cabin in the ship, and extracted the paper. He unrolled it, and examined it on his desk.

It was a treasure map. "Yarr! Shiver me timbers! I be rich! I be rich! Wait! I be richer! Richer! Richer than cap'n Blackbeard!" He shouted like a lunatic, and danced around his ship, utterly excited over his good fortune.

* * *

Sniffles, Cuddles, and Flippy seated on the couch on Giggles' living room. They were talking about the day's events.

"It was crazy! Giggles did not believe that there was any danger at all!" Cuddles said. "She refused any protection! Good thing I had the good sense to do the right thing!"

"Yes. It's clear that Shifty and Lifty are after Giggles, not her money or things. Look at this room or the house. There isn't any sign of burglary at all. You would think that if they'd want to steal her things, they would actually rob her," Flippy added. "But no! Nothing has been disturbed except for some handkerchiefs used to gag her."

"You're not saying they're here to kidnap her?" Sniffles gasped.

"I'm afraid so. It is the only thing that makes sense," Flippy replied.

"But why?" asked Sniffles. "They only want to steal! They usually don't hurt anyone—unless it makes them rich."

"Who cares why?" Cuddles replied. "The only thing important is that they are after her, and we must stop them!"

"Maybe they want to hold her for ransom," Flippy opined. "But Giggles is not rich. Maybe she had some large amount at the bank which they want to get hold of? Or if not Giggles, maybe Petunia has that kind of money."

"I don't know. They're not that wealthy at all," Cuddles replied. "Perhaps they would sell them for some reason?"

"Petunia! Oh my god Petunia!" The three suddenly heard from Giggles' room. They quickly entered, and found Giggles sitting on her bed, awake, and clearly agitated.

"Giggles! Are you okay!" Cuddles shouted, going over to her side, while his companions quickly surround her.

"Yes! But Petunia! They—Shifty and Lifty—told me that they going to Petunia's! Oh we have to save her! We have got to save her!" she shouted hysterically.

* * *

Pop hummed to himself contentedly. The business meeting was a success. It had ended earlier than expected, and now he was going home. But first, he would pick up Cub from Petunia's house.

When he arrived at the skunk's house, Pop did not even bother to knock but went in. Expecting to see Petunia with Cub on her arms, he was instead flabbergasted by what he saw—the house was ransacked, with various items scattered all over the place. There was no sign of Petunia. He did not know what was going on.

He saw Lifty holding Cub. In an instant, he lost all rational thinking. "Cub is being stolen by that thief" was the only coherent thought of his mind. He has got to save his son! He saw a scattered fireplace poker just on the floor besides him. He picked it up, and gave a yell as he attacked Lifty. "Let go of my son! I'm going to save you Cub! Steal my son, will you?" It had happened so fast.

Lifty was startled by the shout. "You got it wrong, Pop. I ain't gonna steal your son! I'm just—" His explanation was wasted as Pop in anger hit Lifty in the head with the iron poker. The hit was so strong that it went though Lifty's head—killing him—and hit Cub's head, killing him too.

"Cub!" Pop shouted as he cradled his dead son.

"What's going on?" Shifty asked as he came from another room.

"You caused my son's death!" Pop irrationally said as he saw the fedora wearing thief. "You bastard!"

Pop grabbed the bloodstained poker and chased after Shifty. Shifty tried to ran away, but tripped on scattered books and tapes on the floor. The father quickly was upon him and repeatedly hit the poor raccoon with the poker until he was dead. "You're responsible for my son's death! You killed him!"

Pop looked around the bloodstained room, and cried. He went to the couch, and carried his dead son.

"Petunia! Petunia!" Pop shouted.

Petunia could clearly hear Pop from the closet and tried to scream. However, her gag was so effective that no sound penetrated the closet door.

Pop heard no reply from Petunia, and assumed the worst. He quickly picked up the phone.

"Hello. This is the police! How may I help you," Lumpy, who was working as the chief of police that time, answered.

"Emergency! There is an emergency! I'd like to report kidnapping, and attempted robbery here at Petunia's house! Hurry Lumpy! Please," Pop pleaded. "Petunia's missing!"

"Oh my! That is serious!" Lumpy replied. "Don't worry. I'm on my way!"

Pop put the down the phone, went to the couch besides Cub, and cried while waiting for Police Chief Lumpy to arrive.

Petunia tried to signal him, but failed dismally. She strained against the ropes binding her, and shouted for all she was worth, but she could barely move or hear her own screams.

End of Chapter

To Poisoned Life, well yeah, he was a bodyguard, but it didn't stop Shifty and Lifty!

To Light Through the Veins, thank you very much for your review. I hope you like this chapter too!


	7. House Arrest

**Windfall**

**Chapter VII**

**House Arrest**

Pop came back to himself after a few minutes of mourning. He had killed his son—accidentally—too many times, and saw him revived too many times, for it to have more than minimal effect. The first time his son got killed in Happy Tree Town, he mourned the entire day, and into the next, until he discovered that his Cub miraculously came back. He taught it was a fluke. The next time it happened, he accepted that death was not permanent in Town.

He took a scattered sheet and covered his son with it. He made a silent prayer for his son before he made preparations for his burial. Unlike the others, who simply dump and cover the bodies of their friends until they revived, when Cub was killed, he buries the body on the same plot of ground in his backyard and puts Cub's tombstone over it. The tombstone is kept on his house until Cub dies, then put on the ground on burial, and retrieved and kept when he was revived.

But first, he must find Petunia. Maybe she is asleep, or hiding somewhere in the house, and she didn't hear him the first time or was too afraid of Shifty and Lifty to respond?

"Petunia! It's Pop! There's nothing to fear! Shifty and Lifty are dead!" Pop shouted.

* * *

Petunia could clearly hear the deep loud voice of Pop. Pop was standing just in front of the walk-in closet where she was bound and gagged when he shouted. It was frustrating to the skunk to say the least. He was so close, yet so far away. She again screamed, and sighed when she could hardly hear her own voice.

Pop began to search the house. He searched each room on both floors, the basement, the attic, the bathroom, but no Petunia. He did not bother to look on the walk-in closet for the simple reason that he shouted his call right in front of it, and she would have heard and signalled him if she was there.

He came back to the living room and began to shout again. "Petunia! Are you okay? Please respond!"

Pop heard a knock on the front door, and thinking it was Petunia, rushed to open it. It was Cuddles, Flippy, Giggles, and Sniffles.

"Pop! What are you doing here? Where's Petunia?"

Pop told them what happened, but neglected to inform them of his call to the police.

"How about you? What are you doing here at this late hour?" Pop asked in turn.

"Well, Shifty and Lifty tried to kidnap Giggles earlier in the night," Cuddles said. "We stopped them. Giggles fainted and when she woke up, she told us that Shifty and Lifty told her that they are going to Petunia next."

"Yes, but is that all?" Pop asked.

Cuddles decided to come clean. "Well, you know the two previous attacks on Giggles, right? I was concerned. I know they wanted to kidnap Giggles!"

"Cuddles!" Giggles chided. "It's robbery—"

"Oh stop it!" Cuddles shot back. "You should know by now it's not robbery. It's about kidnapping! They are after you! The events of the night prove it! They didn't even try to rob your house for crying out loud!"

Giggles couldn't really argue the point since Shifty and Lifty themselves threatened to take her with them.

"Well, as you can see, Giggles did not want to believe that they are after her, so she did not accept my offer of help. I decided I'd keep watch over her whether she liked it or not. However, Toothy and I were busy, so we asked Flippy to watch over her."

"What? You asked them to watch over me without telling me about it?" Giggles answered, hurt that they would do such a thing behind her back.

"If I asked you, you would've refused, and if I didn't do it, you'd still be in the hands of Shifty and Lifty!" Cuddles shot back.

Giggles looked apologetically to the yellow rabbit. "I'm sorry. Sometimes, my pride gets in the way of my common sense."

"And we spotted Shifty and Lifty in Giggles house. They escaped but we prevented them from taking Giggles," Cuddles said. "The rest you already know."

"What should we do then?" asked Sniffles.

Flippy glanced around the room and saw, just behind the couch, the dead bodies of Shifty and Lifty. He again nearly flipped. "I suggest disposing the bodies of those thieves. I'll do that! The others can clean the house, and look for Petunia."

Before anybody could reply, they heard a police siren.

"Did anybody call the police?" Giggles asked.

"I did," Pop said.

Everyone looked at the door as a harsh knock was heard. Pop opened the door, and Police Chief Lumpy, wearing a police chief's uniform, entered arrogantly. Lumpy normally is friendly, kind, warm-hearted and simple, but when his job requires it, he can be greedy, arrogant, thoughtless, and bossy. In his job as Police Chief, he was bossy, arrogant, but decisive, even if a bit lacking in brilliance.

Lumpy looked around. "Okay. There's a crime that's happened here, and you're all at the scene of the crime. This is Petunia's house. You're not supposed to be here. As of now, all of you are under suspicion. You are suspects of conspiracy. Unless you tell me exactly what happened!" He said it with authority that brooked no dissent. The others perfectly know that he's capable of throwing them in jail on mere whim, as he did with Handy and the Mole when their car was stolen by the raccoons. He's not brilliant, smart, but he has doggedness, and if he's on your track, you better watch out. After all, he was actually one of the few Tree Friends (aside from Flippy) who had killed somebody on purpose to do his job better (i.e. Toothy when he worked as a Toy merchant during one Christmas Season).

Yet he did not lack charisma. He had enough to win Cuddles' adulation when he decided to form a band with Handy, Russell, and Sniffles. He also was admired by Toothy, Giggles and Petunia as a champion surfer. He had enough abilities to be willingly followed by the others when he appointed himself leader—even if those led to disaster.

"Well? Don't just stare there like idiots! Talk!" Lumpy demanded.

Flippy, Pop, and Cuddles told Lumpy what had happened.

"Oh I see. Well, before anything else, clean up this mess! Flippy, you clean up those bodies! Cuddles, you clean up the mess those raccoons made! Sniffles, well, make yourself useful by writing what you've just heard into a report! Giggles, search the house again for Petunia!" Lumpy ordered in a loud voice.

They scampered around to do their assigned tasks. Lumpy himself helped Cuddles by gathering some scattered dirty bed sheets on the floor of the living room. Looking for a place to dump it, he saw the walk-in closet. He opened the door, and without looking in, quickly threw the sheets in and closed the door.

* * *

Petunia was hopeful when he heard more of her friends arrive. She was very happy when the door to the walk-in closet opened. She shouted for all she was worth when she saw Lumpy, but she saw that Lumpy didn't even look in. Given that she barely heard her own screams because of her enormous gag, she realized he can't hear her. Plus, Lumpy dumped on her white dirty bed sheets, covering her entire body.

Lumpy thought he heard something in the closet. He flicked the light, looked inside, but all he saw was the bedsheet he threw earlier draped over a chair with pillows and bags on it.

The "bags" and "pillow" moved a little.

"Petunia?" he loudly called.

He heard faint sounds that he could barely hear. "Are you there?"

Even though he was standing next to Petunia, all he could hear were very weak whimpers.

"Rats! I thought she had gotten rid of those pests in her home?" Lumpy concluded when he heard nothing more a few pathetic whimpers. He closed the walk-in closet and continued to help Cuddles clean the room.

Petunia, the "pillows" and "bags" and the "rats" that Lumpy saw, sunk into further disappointment. The ropes had prevented her to do any movement or sound significant enough to draw Lumpy's attention, the bedsheets covered her, and the gag made only the faintest sounds possible. Luckily, the ropes were unusually thick, or she would have cut herself by now by her incessant struggling.

However, she realized that the sheets that Lumpy dumped on her were dirty, and she began to have an OCD attack. "Oh no, not this time," she said to herself. She could choke on her gag and die. She struggled mightily, if not to free herself, then to rid the dirty sheets covering her. She was unsuccessful. She nearly fainted from lack of oxygen, but at the last moment, she was able to control her breathing and warded off falling into unconsciousness.

Lumpy, Flippy, Pop, Giggles, Cuddles, and Sniffles met in the living room to discuss their situation. It was already clean, and the bodies were buried by Pop in the backyard. They haven't found Petunia yet. They were all tired, sleepy, and wanted to go home, but they knew they cannot rest until they settled the matter at hand.

"Any luck in finding Petunia?" asked Lumpy.

"No," Giggles replied.

Sniffles, who was holding an electronic tracking device, replied, "Unfortunately, no."

"There's no sign of her," Cuddles said.

"Not a clue on where she could be," Pop said.

"I don't know," Flippy opined. "Where could she have gone? She could have been kidnapped, but Lifty and Shifty are dead. She could've run away. Or she could've been killed earlier in the night and her body was disposed by the raccoons. If she runs away, she'll come back when she learns what happened here. If she's dead, well, we'll simply wait for her to revive!"

"That's good thinking, Flippy," Lumpy said, impressed. "Can you write that on a report for me?"

"Of course!" the veteran replied.

"Thanks. Now that Flippy here has answered the question of what to do about Petunia—"

"Wait! I know why I wasn't able to use this device to locate Petunia!" Sniffles shouted, waving his gadget.

"Well?" Lumpy asked impatiently.

"It doesn't have enough power!" Sniffles replied. "If it does, I'll be able to find her in a jiffy!"

"Well, let's get you power then!" Lumpy said as he went out and came back with a power cord and a screwdriver. Give me that device!"

Without waiting for Sniffles to give it to him, he took the tracking device, opened it up, attached the power chord to it, and screwed it back.

"There! Switch it to a socket and it'll have enough power!" Lumpy said.

Sniffles did as was suggested. However, when he pressed the button to operate the device, he was electrocuted. It only took a few seconds. Flippy quickly cut the power cord using his knife, but it was too late. Sniffles was dead.

"Well that's too much power. Maybe I should have used a voltage regulator," Lumpy said, shocked, but, already used to accidentally killing others, moved on. "Pop, get rid of Sniffles' body!"

Pop immediately complied with Lumpy's orders. The blue moose then turned his attention to Giggles.

"So Giggles," Lumpy began. "Cuddles believes Shifty and Lifty are after you and Petunia. Do you know why?"

"No, I don't," Giggles lied.

"Well, we have to catch Shifty and Lifty—alive—and throw them in jail," the blue moose concluded.

"But until then, what? They will be revived, and would continue to come after Giggles and Petunia!" Cuddles argued.

"Perhaps, Chief Lumpy, you should extend police protection to the girls," Flippy suggested.

"What? No. I'm not in danger," Giggles insisted. "I can take care of myself!"

"No you can't," Cuddles contradicted, "at least not against Shifty and Lifty. This is the second time you've been tied up by them, and the third time they took you, and what have you been able to do? Nothing!"

"Look! I resent that! Just because I'm a girl, doesn't mean I'm not tough like you guys!"

"Who says anything about you being a girl having anything to do with this?" Cuddles shot back. "Look at the facts. When they attacked you, you spent the time tied up and gagged in a chair!"

"Okay, break it up, you two," Lumpy interceded. "This is no time for a lover's quarrel. I'll lay up my offer, Giggles. I'll assign two police officers to you and Petunia. They won't enter your house. They'll hang around outside. They'll follow you whenever you go, but otherwise would respect your privacy. But they'll make sure that Shifty and Lifty won't get to you."

"That's very generous, and thanks for the concern," Giggles said, who, though irate towards Cuddles, was respectful to Lumpy and the others. "But Lumpy, I can't accept. I don't believe they are really after me! They're thieves, not kidnappers! And I'm not rich enough to be held for ransom."

"But Lumpy, Flippy, and Russell are rich, and they're your friends," Pop, who just finished disposing of Sniffles' body, pointed out.

"So that's why they want to get you!" Cuddles snapped. "The know that you two along with Russell are rich, and decided to take the weakest among us!"

"Petunia and I are not weak!" Giggles protested. "Look, you can all be chauvinistic about this, but we can take care of ourselves! I'm not afraid to die!"

"Well duh!" Cuddles replied. "In this down, not being afraid to die means nothing. It's being kidnapped, not being killed, that we're concerned about!"

"I'm not going to let them take me!" Giggles shouted to the yellow rabbit.

"Giggles, calm down," Flippy interjected. "It's not your willingness or unwillingness that concerns us. It's your ability to resist them, which, by light of recent events, admit it or not, is pitiful. Please, accept the offer of police protection."

"Yes," Pop said. "We're all concerned about your safety. Look, _level with us_. Is there anything you know that might make those raccoons come after you? I mean, it's not like those two to be persistent. They usually attempt something once, and if they fail, move on to their next project."

Giggles hated to lie, but until she can make Petunia agree to divulge their secret, she has to. "I don't know! I have no idea what they are after us!"

"Giggles, please, for your own sake, and for our peace of mind, accept the protection we offer," Lumpy pleaded. "I'll even authorize the officers to do chores for you if necessary! They'll wash your clothes, clean your house, carry your groceries! It'll only last until we catch the raccoons!"

Giggles was touched. But she cannot accept. "I'm sorry. You're all very kind. But I must reject it."

"But why?" Cuddles asked.

"Because I don't need it! I'm a big girl, and I need to prove that I can stand on my own!" Giggles proclaimed. "And Cuddles, I won't tolerate, from you or from anyone else, organizing protection squads behind my back! I just won't have it!"

"So nothing we would say would change your mind?" Lumpy asked.

"No," she replied.

In truth, Giggles was scared, really scared, especially after the events of the night. She desperately wanted to accept their help, but it would be unfair to Petunia and Flaky. She wanted to talk to her first, and they would decide together what course of action to take. If Petunia agreed to the boys' plans for their protection, they would ask them to provide it. So what she's doing now is rejecting it with plans to accept it as soon as Petunia and Flaky were available to give their consent.

* * *

The Police Chief's face became focused. "Giggles, would you please excuse us? We have some matters that we need to discuss. Oh don't leave yet. I'll need to ask some questions after this."

The rest of them looked at Lumpy quizzically. What did he need to discuss? Still, he was the authority around here—among all them, only he has the law behind him.

"Well, okay, see you later," Giggles said as she retired to one of Petunia's guest rooms.

"Okay Chief Lumpy, what is this all about?" Flippy asked as soon as Giggles was gone.

"Oh I have a suggestion, but I want to clear it out with you first. I don't want Giggles to hear it because she'll object, but it won't matter," Lumpy said with a smile in his face.

"Go on, we're listening!" Pop replied.

"First of all, I'd like to ask, do you agree that Shifty and Lifty are really after her? That they intend to kidnap her?"

"No doubt about it," Cuddles replied.

"I agree," Flippy replied.

"No other explanation makes sense," Pop added.

"Good! Now tell me, do you think Giggles should have protection, until at least those two are caught?" Lumpy asked.

All three gave the answer in the affirmative.

"And what do you think of her rejection of our offer to protect her?" Lumpy asked.

"She's stubborn! Obstinate!" Cuddles ranted, though he kept his voice low to keep Giggles from hearing him. "She's not herself. She usually is the soul of common sense, but now, she's lacking it in spades!"

"She's caught in a fantasy world where she thinks she can handle things on her own," Flippy said. "If we don't do something, those two raccoons will eventually get her."

"She's not being totally honest with us," Pop said. "She's hiding something."

"So, you won't object to my plan for Giggles," Lumpy stated. "I plan that she and Petunia would stay here at her house. Some of us are to stay with them to deter Shifty and Lifty."

"She won't agree," Cuddles said.

"But that wouldn't matter. She doesn't know what's good for her, right? If she doesn't, then she can't decide what's best for her! We'll decide for her," Lumpy said. "She won't have a choice in the matter!"

"She'll flip!" Flippy argued. "She won't take it kindly."

"So what? Here's what I'm going to do," Lumpy said, smiling at his own cleverness. "She and Petunia would live here together until this is over. They won't leave this house unless I say so. At least two of the male tree friends should be living with them at all times. She can choose that. If not, then I'll throw both of them in jail where they'll be absolutely secure from Shifty and Lifty."

The three looked at Lumpy with stupefied expressions.

"You can't be serious! You'll throw them in jail just to protect them?" Cuddles asked.

"If they choose it, I would," Lumpy said.

"But that's unfair!" Pop protested.

"Look! Do you have any better ideas?"

There was silence.

"So my plan is the best. Now do you agree with my plan, or not? If you don't, then we'll leave it as it is. She'll get no police protection because she refused, and if you attempt to do a stakeout like what you did, I'll arrest you for stalking her."

Lumpy was talking in an authoritative manner, making sure that everyone knows he's in charge.

"I hate to say this, but you're right. Unfair or no, she needs to be protected, and if this is the only way, well, I'm on," Cuddles said.

"Only for Giggles and Petunia," Flippy said. "Yes. Your plan is the most sensible."

"Okay. I'll agree to it," Pop said.

"Good! Now, for this mission, I, Lumpy, currently Chief of Police of Happy Tree Town, appoint the three of you deputies for this mission!" he began. He took three badges from his pocket and pinned it on Cuddles and Pop's chests, and a bigger badge to Flippy's chest.

"What's this for?" asked Pop.

"Oh that gives you legal authority to do what you need to do," Lumpy said. "What you did earlier is stalking, and I could arrest for that, but that's over now. You are now officially part of the police, and thus, you take orders from me. Flippy, you will by my chief lieutenant, my second-in-command, and you will exercise my authority in my absence!"

Flippy's soldier instincts prompted him to stand straight, salute, and say, "Sir, thank you, sir!"

Lumpy saluted back before saying, "At ease, Flippy. Cuddles, Pop, I'll deputize Handy, Sniffles, and Toothy to give us extra manpower. Do you think we should tell Giggles now?"

"Might as well call Giggles," Cuddles replied.

* * *

"Giggles!" Lumpy greeted as soon the pink chipmunk was with them again. "Listen. I've got an offer you can't refuse! Oh I'll let Flippy tell you what it is."

"Well, what the Police Chief proposes," the green bear began, "is that you and Petunia would live here in this house until this is over. Two of the tree friends will live with you in order to ensure that the raccoons won't try anything. In the meantime, to better protect you, you—including Petunia—are forbidden to leave the house. Or you could choose the alternative."

"Any alternative has got to be better than that," Giggles said, thinking they were joking.

"You'll be thrown in jail, where you'll be absolutely protected from the raccoons, and only released when this is over. If you reject the first option, you and Petunia would be automatically jailed, whether you like it, or not."

"You're joking, right?" Giggles said, not believing the audacity of the four. But looking at their faces, it became clear to her that they are deadly serious about this.

"We're not," said Pop. "You are so stubborn, and too blind to see the consequences of your own actions, that we had to take the choice away from you."

"You can't do this! You can't throw me in jail for that!" Giggles shouted.

"Oh, ask Handy and the Mole and the time their car was stolen by Lifty and Shifty," Lumpy said with a smile. "I could throw you in jail for whatever reason I want, and you know I'd do it too."

"That's not fair! That's not right! You can't do this! This violates my rights!" she shouted.

"Oh restrain yourself," Lumpy shouted. "Or I'll have you thrown in jail right now for disturbing the peace. This is for your own good. It'll only last until we catch Shifty and Lifty alive! So, do you accept my earlier offer? Keep in mind that rejection of it automatically means jail time!"

Giggles gritted her teeth and shouted for all she was worth at the blue moose. The moose was unaffected, even if the others were a bit terrified. This was a battle of wills between Giggles and Lumpy, and there's no doubt in their minds that Lumpy is going to win this.

"I suppose that scream means no, and that you'd rather be in jail?" Lumpy asked.

"No. How about your earlier offer of police officers simply following me around, but allowing me to go out?" Giggles hopefully asked.

"That's off the table. You rejected it before. Now you must pay for your stupidity! Choose!" Lumpy harshly replied.

"Do I really have a choice? Okay, I'll choose the first one, where I stay here with Petunia," Giggles said. She then looked around the others. "And you! Cuddles, Pop, Flippy! I thought you were better than this!"

"We're sorry," Flippy said. "But you left us no choice!"

"You're idiots!" Giggles screamed. "I'm going to sleep!"

"That went better than expected," Lumpy said as Giggles marched off to the guest room where she plans to sleep.

* * *

Russell was jumping and singing as he began to make preparations for his treasure hunt. He first organized his ship, put in the necessary equipment, made a careful study of the offshore islands, etc. He in particular studied the treasure map. He noted that this hunt is like the treasure hunt he and Lumpy had before. The difference was that before it had been underwater, now it was on an island.

His smile vanished upon remembering the first treasure hunt. It had gone smoothly until his hard earned treasure was stolen by those two thieving raccoons.

"Yarr! I be needing help!" he thought. Perhaps his old friend Lumpy would like a share of the treasure? But he needed another crewmate. Lumpy is good and all, but he can be a bit stupid and careless sometimes.

He looked at his clock. It was midnight. He'll call tomorrow first thing in the morning. Then he remembered. Lumpy is working night shift as Police Chief. He was awake at this hour. Quickly, he grabbed his cellphone and gave a call.

* * *

"Now, I know you won't like this, but at least two of you must always stay here to guard the girls," Lumpy instructed the three men. "I myself am moving here to set an example! But I need two assistants! Tonight, all of you will sleep here! Starting tomorrow, I'll decide which two will work the night shift here!"

Pop, Cuddles, and Flippy agreed. It was Lumpy who is their leader now, and like it or not, they accepted it.

"So how do we keep them here?" asked Pop.

"Yeah Chief," Cuddles said. "Giggles is not going to take this lying down."

"Oh it's really simple," Lumpy answered. "If she tries to get out of the house, lock her in. Grab her and stop her from getting out. Tie her up if you must. If she got out, take her back. However, remember that we're not doing this to hurt her. We only want what's best for her. In all your actions, be kind to her."

"Well, Giggles would really hate us after all of this is over," Flippy observed.

"Oh she'll understand. Giggles—" Lumpy was interrupted when his cellphone rang. "Excuse me for a minute."

He quickly went to another room. "Hello?"

"Avest ye matey!" Russell greeted.

"Russell! So what's up, ole' buddy!"

"Yarr! I found a treasure map! Ye want to go treasure huntin'?"

"Treasure! Sure!" Lumpy, who became excited, replied.

"But bring ye one trusted friend," Russell said. "I don't think only two can do the mission. And bring ye arms!"

"Arms? It's not as if I'm going to chop it off," Lumpy said.

"I mean weapons," the sea otter said. "A blunderbuss, a flintlock, a derringer, a cutlass, any would do!"

Lumpy did not understand any of Russell's archaic terms, but understood what he meant. "Don't worry, I'll bring a friend and some guns!"

"Yarr! And don't tell anyone else!" Russell instructed.

"Oh a secret hunt!!" Lumpy whispered. "Don't worry. I'll keep my mouth zipped!"


	8. Flippy vs Giggles

**Windfall**

**Chapter VIII**

**Flippy vs. Giggles**

Cuddles yawned. He had not expected to sleep at Petunia's house, but with Lumpy in charge, you never know. It was already one in the morning, and he was sleepy. He had gone to his house to retrieve his clothes and toiletries, as had the others, and he was ready to go to bed. He brought an inflatable bed with him, as he had no wish to use the spare bedrooms until Petunia could assign them. Flippy himself used a sleeping bag, while Lumpy planned on using the couch. Pop also has brought a sleeping bag with him.

Cuddles neglected to take some sheets with him to spread over the inflatable bed, so he had to borrow Petunia's. "Hey, does any one of you know where she keeps her bed sheets?"

"I think there's a couple in the closet," Lumpy said, pointing to the walk-in closet.

"Thanks," Cuddles said. Still sleepy, he groggily dragged himself to the walk-in closet. Opening it, he spotted the dirty bed sheets that Lumpy dumped before draped on a chair. He could detect movement beneath it. "Rats," he concluded, but he nevertheless took the sheets.

He was surprised when he saw Petunia bound and gagged on the chair. "Petunia! I found Petunia!" Cuddles quickly shouted at the top of this voice.

It quickly drew the attention of the boys, and even of Giggles upstairs, and they quickly went to where the poor skunk was. She was still awake, her eyes tired and a bit thankful. Her voice was unrecognizable and almost inaudible behind her gag, and she can barely move because of the ropes. Flippy took his knife and cut the ropes binding her, while Pop removed the gag. He easily removed the two handkerchiefs tied around her head, but he had a hard time extracting the ball of cloth in her mouth. Petunia had to open her mouth as wide as possible before he could, with difficulty, remove the saliva sodden roll of handkerchiefs from her mouth.

Giggles quickly brought a glass of water to the skunk. She drank it with gratitude, before she went off and took a bath.

Petunia was angry at them for taking over three hours to find her, but at least she's free. After her shower, she took a look at her house. It was clean, but not as organized as she wanted it to be. They obviously cleaned her home, but they didn't do a thorough job at it. No matter. She can rectify it in the morning.

"What took you so long?" Petunia asked as soon as she had showered.

"We didn't hear you, we didn't see you," Lumpy offered as an excuse. "Sorry for covering you with the bed sheets!"

"It's okay," Petunia said. The mere fact of being rescued made her more amenable to forgive the blue moose. She couldn't blame Lumpy for being stupid, can she? And the ones who were really at fault were not Lumpy or Cuddles, but Shifty and Lifty.

"I'm glad you're alive," Giggles said, hugging her friend. "We all thought you were dead!"

"A little more time in that chair and I would have been dead," Petunia replied. "Thanks for the rescue. So what's going on?"

The four men looked at each other before Flippy took it upon himself to explain. He told everything, including Lumpy's decision to confine them to their house.

Petunia's reaction surprised them all, especially Giggles. "If you think it's for the best, then I'm all for it!"

"What? You agreed, just like that?" Giggles said, shaking Petunia. "They won't let us leave your house for crying out loud! Aren't you even going to protest?"

"What for?" Petunia argued. "I'm afraid. I don't want to be stuck in a closet for more than five hours again! If staying home is the only way to ensure our safety, well, then we better stay home."

Giggles was speechless.

"I see you're planning on settling in," Petunia said, diverting the topic of the conversation. She would have a serious talk with Giggles in the morning, but not before she slept on it. "But that won't do! What kind of a hostess would I be if I let you sleep in the living room? I have three extra guest rooms. I insist you use them."

"No thanks," Lumpy said. "I'll sleep on the couch."

"Well, thanks," Cuddles said. He was tired, and wanted to sleep on a soft bed.

"I hope we're not imposing," Pop said. "Thanks."

"I think I'll sleep down here," Flippy said. "You never know when a thief might break-in."

* * *

Pop had just finished washing his face and brushing his teeth. He was already in his pajamas and was ready to sleep. He stepped out of the bathroom, where he saw Lumpy waiting outside.

"Pop, you've got a minute?" asked the police chief.

"As long as it is a minute, and won't last too long!" Pop yawned.

"Don't tell this to anyone, but Russell called. You want to get rich?"

"What's the catch?" asked Pop, suspicious of any get quick rich scheme.

"You heard of Russell's treasure hunt?" Lumpy asked.

"Yes. There was treasure, but it was stolen by Shifty and Lifty. They got killed," Pop replied.

"Russell found another treasure map. So, are you up for some treasure hunting?" Lumpy asked.

Pop thought about it for a while. "Well, I'll talk to Russell about it first," Pop said.

"Great. Tomorrow at eight, we go to Russell's ship at the port!" Lumpy proclaimed.

* * *

The next morning…

Flippy opened his eyes to the morning light. Yawning, and rubbing his eyes, the first thing he saw was Lumpy.

"Hey Chief," Flippy greeted. "What time is it?"

"About half past six," the blue moose answered. "Listen, I've got a couple of other jobs to do, and I can't be here all the time. Today, I have to take care of some things and I need you to be in charge of guarding Giggles. Cuddles will take orders from you, while Pop has to go with me."

"You can count on me," Flippy said. "Any specific instructions?"

"Just make sure Giggles and Petunia are safe. They should not leave this house," Lumpy instructed.

"Not leave the house? Even the backyard?" asked Flippy.

"Yes. Not even the yard. And no, don't let them go out of the house under any circumstance, for any reason, no matter what happens," Lumpy said, "unless I say so."

"Isn't that extreme?" asked Flippy. "I mean they should be safe. Shifty and Lifty are dead, and they won't be bothering us until at least tomorrow."

"Don't question my orders!" Lumpy barked. "They won't be safe if they step out of the house! And that's that!"

"Yes sir," Flippy conceded. "But what if they try go out even if I say no?"

"You're a soldier," the moose replied. "You can lock her in, drag her out, carry her, tie her up, you can do anything. Don't be soft just because they're girls. Remember, you're doing this for their own good!"

"You won't be disappointed, Chief!" Flippy saluted.

"I know I won't. You're the most capable, most competent, and most loyal, of the Tree Friends that I know of," Lumpy said as he left.

* * *

Russell inspected his two new crewmates. It was about half-past eight, and he was getting ready for the treasure hunt. They were at his ship at the harbor. Lumpy was excited, while Pop was cautious.

"So let me get this straight," Pop questioned, "We are going on a treasure hunt? How do you know that this isn't some wild goose-chase?"

"Yarr matey! This be not the first time I went treasure huntin'! Ye know the first time we did? There be treasure!" he waved the treasure map. "Yarr! I found me a treasure map!"

"May I see it?" Pop asked. "Thank you," he said as Russell gave him the document. "Oh, it's on that island. So, how much do you think we could get out of this treasure?"

"Yarr! Oh about a million in the least," the pirate otter replied.

"A million! That could provide for Cub's college fund!" he gasped.

"And think of all the things we can buy," Lumpy said. "A new car! A new house!"

"Well, why not! Count me in!" Pop said, carried away by the prospect of being rich.

"Good! Now, Lumpy, did ye bring the weapons?" asked the pirate.

Lumpy showed him his hidden semi-automatic pistol. Pop too was carrying a concealed weapon—a revolver.

Russell himself was bristling with arms. He was wearing a cutlass from his waist, and he was wearing a sash with various 17th century wheellock pistols on it. He wore a coat to cover most of his weapons.

"Why the need for weapons?" asked Pop.

"Yarr! Ye know what happened last time we went treasure huntin'? Those two 'coons stole our treasure! Just makin' sure. If I see those two bastards in tis' mission, I'll blow their brains to Davy Jones locker!" Russell coldly answered. "This ship has cannons. If I see their submarine, or any boat of theirs, I'll blast them off the seven seas!"

"Too late," Pop replied. "I already did that for you. I killed them last night when they tried to take Cub."

"Yarr, you did? Then it be great! They be back no later than tomorrow!" Russell shouted, doing a little jig around the room. "I be worryin' too much! Let's proceed with the treasure hunt!"

* * *

"Why did you say that? Do you know what you're doing?" asked Giggles to Petunia as soon as Petunia opened her eyes.

It was morning, and Giggles had waited for Petunia to wake up. She was peeved by the skunk's easy acquiescence to their house arrest, and she was determined to get answers from Petunia.

"What? What are you talking about?" Petunia yawned as she stretched.

"Why did you accept that? I mean, it's bad enough that the boys have the nerve to tell us to stay in this house, but do you have to say yes?"

Petunia looked at Giggles puzzled. "That's what's eating you? Okay, before I answer, tell me exactly what happened. I heard bits and pieces of what you've talked about while I was tied-up. I know that they offered you a much more lenient protection, but you refused it. They got angry at your stubbornness and forced this upon you."

"What, you're taking their side?" Giggles angrily said.

"But you should've accepted their first proposal," Petunia reasoned. "You know as well as I that we can't defend ourselves from those two raccoons. You've lost your marbles when you refused their help."

"I know. But I wasn't planning to. I just want to ask you first so we can accept their protection together," Giggles reasoned. "I rejected it so I can accept it with you later."

"That's foolish. I would have accepted it, and you should have known it," Petunia scolded. "Well, we can't do anything now. We should accept that we'll stay here until this is over!"

"What? No. They can't do this to us! Not even Lumpy," Giggles said. "This is not protection! This is imprisonment!"

"Don't be dramatic," said Petunia. "So we stay here in this house for the next few weeks! So what? It's better than being in jail!"

"I'm not planning on staying here while they go around looking for those raccoons. I have a life, and I'm going to live it!" said Giggles.

"With that attitude, you're going to live it as a captive of Shifty and Lifty," Petunia warned.

"Well, they won't get me!" the chipmunk proclaimed. "Why not tell the boys about the treasure? That way, they'll know the source of all this brouhaha!"

"No! We'll have to share it with them if we tell! The treasure is ours! Ours I tell you!" Petunia said, raising her voice a little.

"But maybe they'll let us go if we come clean! Come on! I want this to end!" Giggles pleaded.

"No. You and Flaky made a promise. We will not tell anyone!" Petunia declared.

Giggles sighed. "Well, I made a promise to you, and I'll keep it," she said. "But you're making a big mistake."

"No. Well, you made one. You refused their earlier offer," Petunia countered.

Giggles sighed. Petunia was right. She, however, was still determined not to let the boys control her movements. She marched down, and walked to the front door, fully intending to go home.

"Hello, Giggles," Flippy greeted. He was sitting on a stool besides the front door, reading a paperback.

"Hello Flippy," Giggles greeted back.

"Going somewhere?" Flippy asked as Giggles attempted to open the door. Flippy quickly stepped in between Giggles and the door.

"I'm going home," the chipmunk replied.

"Oh I'm afraid this is your home now, until at least this is over," Flippy replied.

"Please Flippy, let me through!"

"I'm sorry. But I've got orders not to let you out of this house," the bear replied.

Giggles tried to push Flippy aside, but Flippy was much stronger. He brushed off with contemptuous ease Giggles' attempts to go out by the front door.

She growled at the bear after her failed attempts, and ran to the back door. She ran as fast as she could, but upon opening the door, she saw Flippy waiting for her.

"How did you-?"

"During the war, I was assigned to guard POWs much tougher than you," Flippy explained. "I'm sorry. I do not want to do this, but this is for your own safety."

"Look, I have nothing here," Giggles argued. "All my things are in my house!"

"That could be easily remedied," Flippy replied. "Cuddles!" he shouted.

The yellow rabbit quickly appeared. "Yes, Flippy? Hi Giggles!"

"Cuddles, could you kindly please get Giggles' stuff from her house?"

"What? Who are you anyway to order us around?" Giggles said. "Who gave you the authority?"

"Lumpy," Flippy replied without hesitation. "He made me his deputy. If he is not around, I am in charge. Cuddles, and the others, when they are here to protect you, are under my command. Now, you, Giggles, will remain here in Petunia's house until Lumpy says otherwise. If you want to get some of your things from your house, Cuddles here will do that for you. If you want other things from the outside, we will get it for you. But under no circumstances are you to leave this house."

He said in a manner that would brook no dissent. Giggles looked at Flippy, and his appearance had a serious look that wasn't seen since his days in the war. It was not Evil Flippy, but that of a soldier determined to do his duty.

Giggles knew she was defeated. She was still angry, but held her tongue. Instead she turned to Cuddles. "Cuddles, I trust that you won't steal from me? Now, here are the things I like you to get from my house…"

And she told Cuddles the list of things that the rabbit would have to bring to her.

* * *

Russell, Lumpy, and Pop looked at the two treasure chests that lay before them.

The voyage itself had gone smoothly. Several times, they were nearly killed because of accidents, or because of Lumpy's stupidity, but in the end, they all came through. They reached the island without incident, and successfully searched it for the treasure.

"Yarr! My mateys! Let's pry it open!" Russell declared.

Lumpy took a crowbar and pried opened one of the chests. When they opened it, they were amazed. There was treasure. Lots of it. Gold. Silver. Jewels. Three green nut shaped glowing gems that they could not identify. Coins. Cash. Ruby. Sapphire.

"It must be worth at least a million," Lumpy said as he gazed upon the treasure. "And that is only one chest."

"A million? More like ten million to me!" Pop exclaimed. "If I will to sell those, it would at least give me $20 million."

"Twenty million smakeroons!" Lumpy greedily eyed. "Let's bring both chests back to the ship!"

"Yarr! Not so fast, mateys. I think it be better to get one chest. Somethin' might happen to us, and we might lose it. Better to get one and keep it, then return after a few days. 'Cause if we all die while bringin' back two treasure chests, we lose all," Russell argued.

"Oh! I get it! We're hedging our bets!" Pop said. "It would be a waste if we die while bringing both over at once! Well, okay, let's bury the other chest and carry this one back to the ship!"

Lumpy nodded as he put the unopened treasure chest back in the pit and covered it with earth. Russell and Pop carried the other chest to their boat.

"Treasure, treasure, we're rich, we're rich!" Lumpy shouted as he did his chores. "What are you going to buy with all that money?" he asked when they are already in the ship and on their way back.

"Ships! Ships! And more ships! Perhaps me own harbour!" Russell opined.

"Well, I'll establish a trust fund for Cub's education. And a new house might not be so bad," Pop declared.

"I'm going to buy myself a new Lincoln continental!" Lumpy declared. "Plus, I'm going to get a shiny new trailer!"

"Trailer? Why not buy a new house!" asked Pop.

"I have already gone one in my farm!" Lumpy replied. "Plus, a house in the city would be too much maintenance. A trailer's bills are cheap. Plus, I'd like to be able to pull my house behind my car. And, I'll buy another farm!"

"Well, suit yourself!" Pop said.

At that moment, Lumpy's cellphone rang. "Hello? Oh Flippy! Any news? Giggles did what? Well, you did great! Remember, we're doing this for her own good! Yes. Show her that she must not leave that house until this is over! Well, thanks for telling me. No, you did great! Bye!"

End of Chapter

To Evil Flippy, thanks for the review.


End file.
